Temple of Hera (a.k.a. "The Basilica")
Dublin Core
Title
Temple of Hera (a.k.a. "The Basilica")
Description
Location: Paestum
Date: 560-520 BC
Details: Originally this temple was identified as a basilica (i.e. a public meeting space), but finds dedicated to Hera (including a silver disk that proclaims "I am sacred to Hera: strengthen our bows"), and sculptures depicting Hera and the marriage of Zeus and Hera, suggest that this building was, like the adjacent structure, a temple dedicated to that particular goddess.
According to the site archaeological guide, the building "is indisputably the best-preserved temple in the whole of the Greek world for the period concerned." Some of its distinctive Archaic features include the low, flat capitals (i.e. tops) of its Doric columns. The columns also demonstrate "entasis"--that is to say, the columns curve in at the top and lean in slightly. Another interesting feature is that the cella (inner chamber) had a row of columns right down the middle. This made the cella--and indeed the whole temple--wider than usual.
Date: 560-520 BC
Details: Originally this temple was identified as a basilica (i.e. a public meeting space), but finds dedicated to Hera (including a silver disk that proclaims "I am sacred to Hera: strengthen our bows"), and sculptures depicting Hera and the marriage of Zeus and Hera, suggest that this building was, like the adjacent structure, a temple dedicated to that particular goddess.
According to the site archaeological guide, the building "is indisputably the best-preserved temple in the whole of the Greek world for the period concerned." Some of its distinctive Archaic features include the low, flat capitals (i.e. tops) of its Doric columns. The columns also demonstrate "entasis"--that is to say, the columns curve in at the top and lean in slightly. Another interesting feature is that the cella (inner chamber) had a row of columns right down the middle. This made the cella--and indeed the whole temple--wider than usual.
Creator
Gabriel Baker
Rights
Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Collection
Citation
Gabriel Baker, “Temple of Hera (a.k.a. "The Basilica"),” Archaeology, Artifacts, & Landscapes, accessed April 25, 2024, https://gabrieldavidbaker.com/digital-exhibit/items/show/7.