Situated on the lower terraces of Delphi, below the level of the modern road and near the gymnasium, the sanctuary of Athena Pronaia is often overlooked. Much smaller than the sanctuary of Apollo, it was certainly the less significant site in Delphi’s heyday, acting as the entrance to the main temenos — hence the name Pronaia.
Athena’s sanctuary is just as ancient, however. While it accommodates fewer building’s than Apollo sanctuary; just the goddess’s temple, the house of her priests, two altars and what are believed to be two treasuries, the final building of the sanctuary is the most famous in Delphi — the mysterious but iconic tholos, often incorrectly assumed to have housed the Delphic oracle.
A Sacred Site since Mycenaean Times
Athena Pronaia’s sanctuary was a cult centre from at least the Bronze Age. Archaeologists have uncovered Mycenaean figurines under the earliest archaic temple of the goddess. They suggest the site was sacred to a mother goddess figure.
The attributes of this goddess survived in association with Athena. Inscriptions show that at Delphi, the goddess was associated with fertility and childbirth. On one of her altars, she is described as Athena Eileithyia and paired with Hygeia, indicating her role in fertility. A further inscription on a base is dedicated to Zosteria, who assisted women in childbirth and Athena as Athena Ergane, who performed a similar role.
The Temples of Athena
In all, three temples to Athena were built within her sanctuary. The first was built in the late sixth century BC. Made of limestone, little remains of this first incarnation, except for a few of the unusually slender column drums and 12 of the capitals shaped like flattened buns. The surviving remains of this temple were absorbed by the second temple, which was built on the same site.
The second temple was built in 500BC. A much larger Doric peripteral, measuring 6 by 12 columns, it was frequently damaged by falling rocks due to its precarious position on the terrace. To protect it, a wall was built to reinforce the northeastern colonnade. Although this temple was abandoned in 373BC because of partial earthquake damage, it survived antiquity with fifteen of its outer columns intact — until a further rockfall in 1905 destroyed all but three.
The final temple was built in the fourth century BC after the second was abandoned. This time, a new location was chosen in the only available space to the far west of the temenos, near the gymnasium. The new temple was much smaller and simpler than its predecessors. Built of local Profitis Ilias stone, it was Doric style but without any external colonnade, except for six columns marking the entrance. This temple was still in use in Pausanias’s time as it is described as containing the cult statue of the goddess.
The Tholos of Delphi
The tholos of Delphi is perhaps the most famous building on the whole site. Its remains are a haunting emblem of the whole of Delphi, but in its day, the tholos was an ornate and architecturally complex building that was beautifully finished and decorated.
The foundations of this circular building were limestone, with external walls of Pentelic marble, with the entrance to the south. Inside was a single room, nominally referred to as a cella.
Twenty narrow Doric columns circled this cella. Today, three have been reconstructed in situ; the rest are fallen. Some of the metopes remain but are eroded, showing only faint scenes portraying the battle of the giants and Amazons. Inside the cella were ten Corinthian pilasters, which were supported on dark marble. They extended to the conical, marble tiled roof.
The tholos is often identified as the oracle’s home, but its actual function remains a mystery. Whatever its purpose, this building and the whole of the sanctuary of Athena Pronaia should not be missed when exploring Delphi.
Sources
Konstantinou, I K, 1995. Delphi: The Oracle and its Role in the Political and Social life of the Greeks. Athens: Hannibal.
Pausanias, Description of Greece
