Temple of Apollo, Ancient Greek temple in Ortygia, Syracuse, Italy.
The Temple of Apollo is an ancient Greek worship site on Ortygia in Syracuse and shows today the remains of forty-two monolithic stone columns in Doric arrangement. The ruin spreads across a rectangular footprint and reveals the original layout with rows of columns on all four sides.
This worship site arose around 575 before Christ according to plans by architect Epicles and was one of the earliest stone constructions in the western Greek colonies. Over the centuries the building changed into a Byzantine church, an Islamic mosque and finally a Spanish barrack.
This site was one of the first major religious buildings in the Greek colony and served different ritual purposes over the centuries. Visitors today see exposed foundations and column fragments that illustrate the shift from timber construction to monumental stone structures.
The excavation site lies at the northern edge of Ortygia island directly on Piazza Pancali and is freely accessible. A low fence surrounds the ruin so visitors can view the layout from close range on all sides.
A Greek building inscription on a stylobate belongs to the oldest known architectural texts and names the patron and the deity. In the rear part of the layout there was an adyton, a closed room that only priests could enter and that was typical for Sicilian sanctuaries.
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