The ruins of the Temple of Apollo are situated on their own large terrace at the top of the sacred temenos at Delphi. Little remains of the temple as it was destroyed by Christians following the anti pagan edicts of the Emperor Theodosius in fourth century AD.
Excavation, coupled with information from ancient sources has helped create a picture of what the temple would have looked like. Three phases of the temple’s life have been identified as well as fragments of decorative detail. Archaeologists have also discovered that the architecture of the building was not that of a standard ancient Greek temple.
The History of Apollo’s Temple at Delphi
There may have been early wooden versions of the temple of Apollo. The only phases that can be identified for certain in the archaeology are for stone temples dating from the seventh century BC onwards:
- The First Temple. Built in about 650BC, this was the first stone temple on the site. Smaller than its subsequent replacements, it was built of limestone. It was destroyed by fire in 548BC.
- The Second Temple. Construction of this temple began in 506BC. It took four years to build and was financed by all the Greek states. It was slightly larger than its predecessor and the terrace had to be enlarged and reinforced with a polygonal wall in order to accommodate it. The temple was constructed as a Doric peripteral style temple; a colonnade surrounded the main structure. Its core building material was limestone but this was faced with marble, The temple was destroyed in 373BC by an earthquake.
- The Third Temple. Construction began in 396BC but the temple was not completed until the third century BC due to the Sacred Wars. Again, it was financed by all the Greek states but most of the money for the project came from the Phocians who were fined for damage they had caused to Delphi. The building costs of the temple were recorded on a stone stelai which was set up outside the temple itself.
It is the third temple which is visible at Delphi today. Although it was completely destroyed, some of the columns and the outside altar have been restored. It was once again a Doric Peripteral style temple, slightly bigger than its predecessor. Corinthian limestone was used for the foundations, external columns and parts of the entablature which were then covered with white stucco. The cella and the floor of the temple were made of local grey stone and the roof beams were of Cyprus wood.
The temple was unusually long, measuring 58.18mx21.64m. This extra length is believed to be due to the extra room the temple had to accommodate.
The Architecture of a Greek Temple - The Cella and the Oracular Shrine of the Pythia
Inside the temple was the cella, the cult centre which housed the statue of the patron god. At Delphi, the statue of Apollo was accompanied by other features. Firstly, there were two altars: one to Poseidon and the other to Hestia, goddess of the hearth and guardian of the eternal flame of Greece. There were also two statues of the fates, with the third fate replaced by a statue of Zeus. The cella also stored votive offerings such as musical instruments, sacred weapons, statues and victor’s crowns as well as the throne used by the poet Pindar when he visited Delphi.
The temple also had an extra feature: the oracular shrine. This was believed to be behind the cella. The destruction of this feature however was total, leaving nothing in the archaeology to conclusively identify it. Ancient accounts describe the Pythia as descending into the shrine, suggesting it was on a lower level to the rest of the temple. There is an area of bedrock in the temple lower than the rest of the temple floor and so this is assumed to be the location of the shrine.
Based on other oracular rooms in Greece, it is believed the oracular shrine consisted of two chambers: one for the Pythia and the sacred Omphalos - the navel stone of Delphi, the other for the priests who communicated her words.
Ancient Greek Art and Decor
Because they were deemed sacred, many of the decorative features of the second temple were buried in a nearby pit. They have enabled archaeologist to recreate a picture of how the temple was decorated. They include:
- The east pediment of Parian marble which portrayed the coming of Apollo to Delphi.
- The limestone west pediment which depicted the battle of giants and men.
The temple also had a number of unusual embellishments:
- A ramp at the entrance. It was unusual for temples for this part of Greece to have a ramp as this was usually a Peloponnesian feature. This suggests that the architect came from this region, rather than the locality of Delphi
- Shields hung from the eastern architrave in memory of the Persian defeat
Sources
Gates, C, 2003. Ancient Cities: The Archaeology of Urban Life in the Ancient Near East and Egypt, Greece and Rome. Routledge: London and New York
Konstantinou, I K, 1995. Delphi: The Oracle and its Role in the Political and Social life of the Greeks. Athens: Hannibal.
Ingpen, R and Wilkinson, P, 1990. Encyclopaedia of Mysterious Places-The Life and Legends of Ancient Sites around the World. Guild Publishing: London
Natasha Sheldon - A writer since 2000, Natasha Sheldon holds a BA Hons in ancient history and archaeology and MA in ancient history and historiography.
