Detail of foundation at SE corner from E, Delphi, Temple of Apollo

Ramp and front of temple from NE, Delphi, Temple of Apollo

More distant view of columns from SE, Delphi, Temple of Apollo

Temple of Apollo, Delphi

Columns of E side, Delphi, Temple of Apollo

Overall view of temple from top of theater, Delphi, Temple of Apollo

Context: Delphi
Type: Temple
Summary: Peripteral temple; in the center of the Sanctuary of Apollo.
Date: ca. 366 BC - 326 BC
Dimensions:

60.32 m x 23.82 m.
Region: Phocis
Period: Late Classical

Plan:

Peripteral Doric temple, 6 x 15 columns, with cella opening east onto a pronaos, also having an opisthodomos, both porches distyle in antis. Two rows of columns inside the cella. Probably a northern row of 8 columns and a southern row of only 6 columns (because of the statue base resting against the southern cella wall). Beneath the western end of the cella is a chamber that held the Omphalos and the Oracular shrine.

History:

Built on the same location as an earlier Temples of Apollo. A 7th century B.C. temple was burned in 548 B.C. and replaced by a larger structure at ca. 525 B.C., which was in turn destroyed in 373 B.C. The temple described above in the Plan description was built by Xenodoros and Agathon on the Archaic temple foundations. Its northern side rested on the bedrock and its southern side on a platform built to support the temple. Alternative reconstructions place a cross wall at the west end of the cella to create a separate adyton. The temple as it stands today has been partially re-erected.

Other Bibliography:

Rossiter 1981, 409; Dinsmoor 1975, 217; PECS, 266

See Also: Delphi, Temple of Apollo, East PedimentDelphi, Temple of Apollo, West PedimentDelphi, Temple of Apollo, Nike