Sanctuary of Poseidon in Isthmia

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Foundations of the Temple of Poseidon at Isthmia

The Poseidon sanctuary of Isthmia ( modern Greek Ιερό του Ποσειδώνα στην Ισθμία ) was about 1.4 km west of the eastern end of the Corinth Canal , between Kyras Vrysi and modern Isthmia . In ancient times, the Isthmian Games ( ancient Greek Ἰσθμιάδες Isthmiades ) were held here.

Mainly Poseidon was worshiped in this shrine . The earliest evidence of a cult goes back to the 11th century BC. BC back. 196 BC During the Games , the Roman general Titus Quinctius Flamininus proclaimed the freedom of Greece here.

Not much of the sanctuary is visible today. Worth mentioning is the sanctuary of Palaimon , built under Emperor Hadrian , a round building on which Palaimon was shown riding a dolphin . The foundations of this building are still visible. The same applies to about 465 BC. Built temple of Poseidon, a peripteros , in which Herodes Atticus had a monumental group of Poseidon and Amphitrite set up. From a previous building of the early 7th century, which burned down 480 BC, various roof tiles were found that belong to a hipped roof of a peripteros of 7 by 19 columns, which was excavated in 1952 by Oscar Broneer . Of particular interest is the stadium's start system , which (as in Nemea ) consisted of wooden pegs to which crossbars were attached that could be lowered with a cable to open the track for all runners at the same time. The museum is very worth seeing (with good labels).

literature

  • Christopher Mee, Antony Spawforth: Greece. To Oxford Archaeological Guide . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001, pp. 159-163 .
  • Oscar Broneer: The Temple of Poseidon, Princeton, NJ: American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1971 (Isthmia: excavations by the University of Chicago under the auspices of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, vol. 1)

Web links

Coordinates: 37 ° 55 '  N , 23 ° 0'  E