Olympieion (Athens)

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Ruins of the Olympieion

The Olympieion (also Temple of Olympian Zeus ) in Athens was one of the largest temples in ancient Greece . The construction goes back to the 6th century BC. BC, but was only completed under the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD. The Olympieion is located around 500 m east of the Acropolis .

history

The oldest building remains excavated at this point probably come from a temple from the first half of the 6th century BC. BC, which was probably built under the tyranny of Peisistratus . His sons Hippias and Hipparchus had a gigantic temple built in its place, probably based on the model of the Dipteroi in Ionia, who had just begun before . After the fall of the tyranny , the building was left unfinished. The column drums prepared were largely used for the construction of the wall of Themistocles . Additional building material was probably used to build the previous building of the Parthenon on the Acropolis. The removal of material from a sanctuary is unusual and suggests that the building was viewed as a monument to tyranny rather than property of the god Zeus. An attempt in the late classical period to at least complete the Naos also got stuck in the beginning.

Not until 174 BC The mighty and extremely ambitious Seleucid king Antiochus IV commissioned the Roman architect Cossutius to build a temple on the old foundation. After the king's death in 164 BC The building, which had already developed a great deal, remained unfinished again. After Sulla in 86 BC After conquering Athens, he had two pillars of Olympieion brought to Rome and built into the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus . During the reign of Augustus an attempt was made to complete the temple and dedicate it to the genius Augusti ( Suetonius , Augustus 60). But it was not until Emperor Hadrian, an admirer of Greek culture, that the Olympieion was finally completed and consecrated around 131/132 AD, unchanged according to the plan of Cossutius.

When and how exactly the Olympieion was destroyed is unknown, but probably by an earthquake in the Middle Ages. After that the ruins were used as a quarry. Archaeological excavations began in 1889.

architecture

According to the original plan, the Olympieion was a dipteros with eight columns on the narrow sides and 21 columns on the long sides. The naos was to be surrounded by a total of 108 columns, each with double rows on the long sides and even triple rows on the narrow sides. With a footprint of 108 × 41 meters on the stylobate , the temple was probably almost as long as the monumental Heraion of Samos , the largest temple ever built in Greece, which was begun around the same time under the tyrant Polycrates (for comparison: the one almost 100 years later The Parthenon built had stylobate dimensions of around 31 m by 67 m). Originally, the construction was probably planned and started in a Doric order - but with some peculiarities of Ionic architecture in the floor plan. A porous limestone was used as a building material. Little more than the stepped construction was completed from this draft.

The appearance of today's ruin, on the other hand, is shaped by the design from the period of High Hellenism some 350 years later, which Hadrian only had a further 300 years later completed. The floor plan was only slightly changed, the number of columns on the long sides was reduced to 20 columns at exactly the same distance. Instead of the originally planned Doric columns, however, Corinthian columns about 17 m high were erected, 15 of which are still upright today. It is the only proven Corinthian temple in Greece. Pentelic marble was used as the building material for all components .

The Hellenistic temple rose on a 44 × 110 meter large and 2 meter high crepe , which was also made of marble up to the lowest step on the west side. The columns with their 24 Ionic fluting stood on Attic bases with plinths made from two blocks . The bases of the inner column ring were slightly higher than the outer ones. The Corinthian capitals were made of two parts. The following entablature consisted of a three-fascia architrave and a smooth frieze . From Geison a 49 cm high intermediate link is only obtained, with Astragalus , egg and dart and dentil decorated. The sima was provided with a lion's head gargoyle . Apart from the Corinthian capitals, the design corresponded entirely to that of an Ionic temple. The exact design of the core structure is unknown. The fact that the temple was planned as a hypäthral temple cannot be proven with reference to Vitruvius (III 2, 8), as he only knew the temple in an unfinished state. In Augustan times, parts of the peristasis were completed. Under Hadrian, the roofing was probably carried out, as he consecrated a gold-ivory statue in the temple, which could, however, have been housed in an adyton .

literature

Web links

Commons : Olympieion  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 37 ° 58 ′ 9 ″  N , 23 ° 44 ′ 1 ″  E