Old Temple of Athena

The Old Athena temple was to the destruction by the Persians in 480 BC, the cult building for Athena Polias, the patron goddess of Athens on the Acropolis. Located at a central point on the Acropolis, he rose on the ruins of a Mycenaean palace. In addition to the foundations of many architectural elements found in Doric order, which are associated with the temple and its various phases.

Findings

The foundations were laid of different materials and in different technology. While walls were load-bearing parts and the inner structure of the bluish Acropolis limestone, the foundations of the surrounding ring Hall of Poros limestone were worked. The architectural elements of the temple to be assigned as well as architectural decorations were not uniform made ​​of building materials: in addition to those from Poros, there were numerous parts of Parian marble.

Because of the various observable materials and crafting techniques has been and is the architectural history of the temple controversial. Wilhelm Dörpfeld took a separation of the foundation in two phases before: The original building had to be significantly older than the ring hall surrounding him. He assumed that initially around 570 BC, the original building was built in the shape of a double Ante temple (or perhaps a amphiprostyle ), which he allocated a number of older architectural elements - the so-called "H - Architecture ". In peisistratidischer time, 529-520 BC, this construction was a colonnade, which he allotted a number of recent architectural elements surrounded.

"H - Architecture "

The "H - Architecture " is dated to the first half of the 6th century BC. Due to the size of this building are assigned: eaves and Schrägsima of Parian marble, column capitals and cornices with the representation of birds in flight from Poros limestone. As quite likely the allocation of the following architectural sculptures is considered due to the size and position time: metopes of Parian marble, the Poros - gable with lions fighting groups in the left gusset the east side of Triton and Heracles, the right of the gusset " Dreileibige " were shown.

Dörpfeld connection of these "H " architecture with the core building of the foundation had to be excluded later. Because the number of parts, which have been preserved from the marble edge of the roof of the gable ends is so great that the building to which they belong, must have been wider than the Naos of the old temple of Athena. We already suspected, therefore, for the construction of the "H - Architecture " a hexastyle ring hall, a group of these capitals are probably assign with their stocky, wide overhanging Echinus. Evidence suggests that the " H- Architecture " an early predecessor of the Parthenon and not the foundations of the Old Athena temple belongs. The question of where the "H - Architecture " once stood, has so far not been well established.

Age Athena temple

The Old Athena temple as independent architecture is addressed in the last quarter of the 6th century BC dated, the assigned architectural sculpture, which seems to have been worked at the end of the construction period, to 510/500 BC. It is located on the entire Dörpfeld foundation.

Assigned to this construction: beams and Sima of Parian marble, Poros capitals with steeper Echinus, two marble pediments, marble frieze with procession, marble gargoyles of the four corners of the temple in the form of lions and rams' heads. The first detached from the Relief Base gable groups presented a gigantomachy in the East and a lion battle group with bull in the west dar. From Gigantomachia are remnants of Athena, Zeus and converging opponents get.

From the foundations and the assigned components following reconstruction was developed for the construction: The temple was 21.30 × 43.15 meters tall and faces east. He possessed a colonnade of 6 x 12 columns. The column spacing was on the front pages 4.04 meters, on the long sides of 3.84 m; the column axes at the corners need to have been narrowed each 0.31 meters. The stylobate had a slight curvature; whether this has caused the systematic implementation of curvature is to provide evidence remains uncertain. The had called the Naos core building outside the likely shape of a double Ante temple or perhaps a amphiprostyle, but what is considered as less likely given the time position. Between short Ante walls stood at pronaos and opisthodomos each two columns. The interior was - unusually for a Greek colonnade Temple - divided into several rooms. To the east was a very short, almost square cella, which was divided by colonnades of probably three columns each in three ships. To the west, a second, wide rectangular cella was. In between were two adjacent rooms.

History of the temple after the Persian invasion

The temple that held the old one, according to legend, fallen from the sky cult statue of Athena Polias of olive wood, was destroyed in 480 BC by the Persians. Whether a provisional restoration was carried out at least parts of the building, is controversial. Herodotus mentions an open westward Megaron on the Acropolis, where you would like to recognize the continued used and possibly mentioned in an inscription of the temple opisthodomos. According to Xenophon was burning in the year 406/405 BC, the Old Athena temple, but this statement could also be on the Erechtheion, which had taken over the function of the Old Athena Temple and the cult image of Athena Polias barg, have moved. From the 4th century BC, there are no further mentions that could be related to the temple and Pausanias he is completely unknown.