Temple of Heracles by Kleonai

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Temple of Heracles by Kleonai

The Heraklestempel von Kleonai ( Greek Ναός του Ηρακλή Κλεωνές ) or Herakleion von Kleonai is located about 2 km southeast of the modern village of Archees Kleones between vineyards. It was outside of the ancient city of Kleonai about 500 m southwest of the city wall.

exploration

Diodorus reports that outside of Kleonai there was a temple of Heracles at the place where Heracles killed the Siamese twins Eurytus and Kteatus . This temple was probably never buried. When Charles Robert Cockerell visited the site in 1811, he found the remains of the temple next to the ruins of Chani Kurtessa. In 1912 August Frickenhaus exposed the sanctuary under the direction of Georgios P. Oikonomos. The outbreak of the Balkan Wars , however, prevented further investigation and due to his early death in 1925, Frickenhaus' excavation findings remained unpublished. In the years 2000–2001, the temple was exposed again and the remains of the architecture were taken.

description

The temple of Heracles is a prostyle with four columns and without ante in a Doric order . Local limestone was used as building material . The two-tier substructure and the lowest layer of the upright stones that formed the outer wall of the temple have been preserved. It had a length of 15.25 m, a width of 9.25 m and a ridge height of 10.43 m. It was built in an economical way. For example, the stone blocks that made up the floor of the temple are irregularly shaped and poorly carved. The resulting relatively wide joints were filled with mortar . A layer of screed was laid over this.

It was found Metopen with a full length of 73 cm and a shortened cm length of 56th On the basis of the corner geison blocks that were found, it was possible to show that the shortened metopes were installed on the front on the outer sides. From this it can be deduced that the distance between the four pillars was not the same. Today's even distribution is therefore not correct, but the distance between the inner columns was earlier than the outer one. The passage between the inner columns was blocked by a low wall, the so-called base stone. An altar probably rested on this base stone.

Breast of the cult statue in the cella to the right of the statue base

Access to the temple is from the northeast. The cella can be reached through a double-leaf door . The lowest blocks of the base of the cult statue were found on the back wall. A fragment of the marble statue is still to the right of the base today. It is the chest of a seated male statue bent slightly forward. There used to be a two-legged table in front of the cult statue. Recesses in the side walls were used to attach barriers. From the crown of the roof one found cornices and lion's head gargoyles made of terracotta . Based on the architectural fragments, the temple can be traced back to the first half of the 2nd century BC. To be dated. There was no previous building. In the 2nd century AD, the sanctuary was renovated, as the Simen and Antefixe of the roof construction from this time show.

The foundations and two stone blocks of a peribolus , i.e. a walled area , were found exactly opposite the vestibule of the temple . It stood only about 9 m northeast of the temple and at 10.50 m was slightly wider than the temple of Heracles. The double-winged door was in line with the central axis of the temple. In front of the entrance one discovered two Ionic column bases that supported a canopy. In the interior of the peribolus, an elongated foundation was found parallel to the sides. It is believed that these are the foundations of two altars, which is why the Peribolos is also known as the altar courtyard. The foundations end after about 5.20 m, as they were partially destroyed by agriculture. However, the rear wall was found at a distance of 17.80 m.

Because of its proximity to the Temple of Heracles, it is believed that the two heroes Eurytus and Kteatus were venerated in Peribolus. A hill on the neighboring field probably also belongs to the sanctuary. Perhaps the tomb of the two heroes mentioned by Pausanias was here .

Web links

Commons : Temple of Heracles by Kleonai  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

  • Nikos Papahatzis: The ancient Corinth , Athens 2005, ISBN 960-213-216-7 , p. 71
  • Konstantinos Kissas: Ancient Corinthia. Athens 2013, ISBN 978-960-6849-37-4 , pp. 89-97
  • Torsten Mattern : Kleonai 2000–2001. Preliminary report on the work in Herakleion in Archäologischer Anzeiger , 2nd half volume 2002 ( online )
  • Torsten Mattern: The “well-built Kleonai”. New excavations in a city of “Third Greece” in Ancient World , Volume 2, 2012, pp. 46–54 ( online )
  • Torsten Mattern: Kleonai. New research in a city of the ›Third Greece‹ in Athenaia , Volume 4, 2013, pp. 323–332 ( online )

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Diodor: Historical Library , 4, 33, 3
  2. ^ Max Maas: Archaeological review in Kunstchronik , Volume 25, Leipzig 1914, p. 241 ( online )
  3. ↑ Archaeological finds in 1912 in the yearbook of the Imperial German Archaeological Institute , Volume 28, Berlin 1913, pp. 113–116 ( online )
  4. ↑ Torsten Mattern: Kleonai 2000–2001. Preliminary report on the work in Herakleion in Archäologischer Anzeiger , 2nd half volume 2002
  5. ^ Pausanias: Travels in Greece , 2, 15, 1

Coordinates: 37 ° 49 ′ 3 ″  N , 22 ° 46 ′ 17 ″  E