The ruins of the Temple of Apollo are situated on their own large terrace at the top of the sacred Temenos of Apollo at Delphi. Little remains of the temple as Christians destroyed it following the anti-pagan edicts of Emperor Theodosius in the fourth century AD.

However, excavation, coupled with information from ancient sources, has helped recreate how the temple would have looked. Three phases of the temple’s life have been identified as well as fragments of decorative detail. Archaeologists have also discovered that the architecture of the building was not that of a standard ancient Greek temple.

The History of Apollo’s Temple at Delphi

There may have been early wooden versions of the temple of Apollo. However, the only phases that can be identified for certain in the archaeology are stone temples dating from the seventh century BC onwards.

The first stone temple on the site was built in about 650BC. Smaller than its subsequent replacements, it was constructed from limestone but destroyed by fire in 548BC.

Construction of the second temple began in 506BC. It took four years to build and was financed by all the Greek city-states. It was slightly larger than its predecessor, so the terrace had to be enlarged and reinforced with a polygonal wall to accommodate it. The temple was a Doric peripteral style temple; a colonnade surrounded the main structure. Its core building material was limestone, faced with marble. Unfortunately, this version of the temple was destroyed in 373BC by an earthquake.

The third temple’s construction began in 396BC but was not completed until the third century BC due to the Sacred Wars. Again, it was financed by all the Greek states, but most of the money for the project came from the Phocians who were fined for the damage they had caused to Delphi. The building costs of the temple were recorded on a stone stelai set up outside the temple itself.

It is this third temple that is still visible at Delphi today. Although the temple was destroyed, experts have restored some of the columns and the outside altar. The third version of Apollo’s temple was also a Doric Peripteral style temple, slightly bigger than its predecessor. Corinthian limestone formed its foundations and the external columns and parts of the entablature were covered with white stucco. The cella and the temple floor were paved with local grey stone and the roof beams were of Cyprus wood.

The temple was unusually long, measuring 58.18mx21.64m. This extra length is believed to be due to the extra room the temple had to accommodate.

The Architecture of a Greek Temple — The Cella and the Oracular Shrine of the Pythia

Inside the temple was the cella, the cult centre that housed its patron god, Apollo. At Delphi, the statue of Apollo was accompanied by other features. Firstly, there were two altars: one to Poseidon and the other to Hestia, goddess of the hearth and guardian of the eternal flame of Greece. There were also two statues of the Fates, with the third Fate replaced by a statue of Zeus. The cella also stored votive offerings such as musical instruments, sacred weapons, statues and victor’s crowns, and the throne used by the poet Pindar when he visited Delphi.

The temple also had an extra feature: the oracular shrine believed to be behind the cella. However, the destruction of this feature was total, leaving nothing in the archaeology to conclusively identify it. Ancient accounts describe the Oracle, known as the Pythia, as descending into the shrine, suggesting the room was lower than the rest of the temple. There is an area of bedrock in the temple lower than the rest of the temple floor, so this is assumed to be the shrine’s location.

Based on other oracular rooms in Greece, it is believed the oracular shrine consisted of two chambers: one for the Pythia and the sacred Omphalos — the navel stone of Delphi — and the other for the priests who communicated her words.

Ancient Greek Art and Decor

Because they were deemed sacred, many of the decorative features of the second temple were buried in a nearby pit. They have enabled archaeologists to recreate a picture of how the temple was decorated. They include:

• The east pediment of Parian marble, portraying the coming of Apollo to Delphi.
• The limestone west pediment, depicting the battle of giants and men.

The temple also had several unusual embellishments:

• A ramp at the entrance. It was unusual for temples in this part of Greece to have a ramp as this was usually a Peloponnesian feature. This suggests that the architect came from this region rather than the locality of Delphi.
• Shields hung from the eastern architrave in memory of the Persian defeat.

Sources

Gates, C, 2003. Ancient Cities: The Archaeology of Urban Life in the Ancient Near East and Egypt, Greece and Rome. Routledge: London and New York.

Konstantinou, I K, 1995. Delphi: The Oracle and its Role in the Political and Social life of the Greeks. Athens: Hannibal.

Ingpen, R and Wilkinson, P, 1990. Encyclopedia of Mysterious Places —The Life and Legends of Ancient Sites around the World. Guild Publishing: London.