Temple of Athena, Ancient Greek temple in Syracuse, Italy

The Temple of Athena was a hexastyle peripteral Doric temple, 22 metres wide and 55 metres long, with six columns on the fronts and fourteen on the flanks, each about 2 metres in diameter and 8.60 metres tall with twenty flutes. Its peristyle enclosed a cella with pronaos and opisthodomos. The building was probably open-roofed, as a drain hole in the foundations and a large water channel found by Paolo Orsi suggest. Nine columns of the right side, with marked entasis, stand inside the present cathedral.

The Temple of Athena was built in the 5th century BC, between 474 and 460 BC, by the Deinomenid dynasty, probably under Hiero I after his naval victory at Cumae in 474 BC. It replaced an archaic sanctuary of the 8th century BC and an earlier Doric temple of the 6th century BC. In the 7th century AD it was converted into a Christian basilica, later becoming Syracuse Cathedral.

Cicero and Athenaeus record that a large shield, probably gilded copper, stood on the temple and was visible far out at sea. Sailors leaving Syracuse would pour a libation of apples, incense, spices and flowers into the sea once the shield disappeared from view. The temple later became a Christian basilica, now the Cathedral of Syracuse.

The ruins are readily accessible and it helps to learn about the architecture beforehand to appreciate the details during your visit. Good footwear is recommended since the ancient stone structures are uneven and the surroundings offer little shade on sunny days.

Athenaeus of Naucratis records a gilded shield set high on the temple, probably on the pediment or roof, visible far out to sea. Sailors leaving Syracuse watched for it to vanish, then poured a libation of apples, incense, spices and flowers into the sea to Neptune and Minerva. Tommaso Fazello, a sixteenth-century Sicilian historian, was the first to describe the shield's material and position.