| Context: | Athens |
| Type: | Temple |
| Summary: | Temple and altar; off the northwest corner of the Agora, in an open air sanctuary, west of the Stoa Basileios. |
| Date: | ca. 250 BC |
| Dimensions: | Aphrodite Hegemone altar: lowest step 1.63 m x 1.53 m. Aphrodite Ourania altar: platform 5.1 m x 2.4 m. |
| Region: | Attica |
| Period: | Hellenistic |
Plan:
Small cella with pronaos distyle in antis, wide stair leading up to the pronaos on the north.
History:
Called by Travlos the Temple of Aphrodite Ourania. Based on the discovery in 1892 of a large marble altar inscribed to Aphrodite Hegemone, the Demos (the People) and the Graces, the surrounding area was considered by Travlos to be an open air sanctuary to those deities. He believed the rectangular building bedding farther up the slope of the Kolonos Agoraios was the foundation for a temple of Roman times, replacing an earlier temple which housed the cult statue of Aphrodite Ourania by Pheidias. Camp, however, makes no mention of a temple and his map of the Agora at ca. 300 B.C., (by Dinsmoor, 1983) shows a broad flight of stairs at this location. Also, a fine, large altar was excavated (1981) west of the Painted Stoa, and is referred to by Camp as the Altar of Aphrodite Ourania; he considers the accompanying temple to be located (unexcavated) to the west.
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