#peripteral

[classicalmonuments]

Temple of Delian Apollo (”The Portara”, the lintel)

Peninsula of Palatia, Naxos, Cyclades, Greece

6th Century BCE

Ionic peripteral

On the small peninsula of Palatia, north of Naxos Town, a sanctuary developed, probably from Protogeometric times. The main period of floruit was in Archaic times under the reign of the tyrant Lygdamis (third quarter of the 6th century). The location of the sanctuary is coastal and can also be considered as urban. The divinity worshiped was most probably Apollo Delios.

The Ionic temple is oriented West. Built of marble, it is divided into a pronaos, cella and opisthodomos. The cella is divided into three naves by a double row of four columns. The temple must have been surrounded by a pteron (6x12), doubled on the small sides (overall dimensions 59m x 20m).  The threshold level of the monumental entrance is 1,10m. higher than that of the cella. The difference between this level and the cella, could be associated with a detail of the worship, a ceremony intended to be seen by all. The temple was never completed, its construction was halted immediately after the end of the tyranny of Lygdamis, in 524 BCE The huge main doorway with its monumental jambs is the only elevation preserved today: it consists of four monolithic elements and its dimensions are 3,6m. wide and 5,96m. high.

[classicalmonuments]

Temple of Nabu

Palmyra (Tadmor), Syria

2nd century CE

The temple was a Corinthian Hexastyle Peripteral temple dedicated to Mesopotamian god of wisdom and writing, and was Eastern in its plan; the outer enclosure's propylaea led to a 20-by-9-metre podium through a portico of which the bases of the columns survives. The peristyle cella opened onto an outdoor altar.

The temple is characterized by its eastern style and architectural and cultural features which still exist at the site, according to Assaf. He clarified that there are three entrances towards the long street and a main entrance in the southern side, surrounded by corridors and columns with Corinthian crowns with decorations on either side and three rooms directly connected to the inner hallway, which leads to a courtyard with a temple in center.

Sources: 1, 2

[classicalmonuments]

Maqâm er-Rab ("shrine of the Lord")

Beit Jallouk, Lebanon

160 CE

Situated nn the valley of Akkar, Maqâm er-Rab was a Hexastyle Pseudodipteral peripteral Temple of an original order, dedicated probably to Athena as the main deity, surrounded by a rectangular enclosure. It is built in basalt, which sets it apart from other Lebanese shrines and is surrounded by tombs from the Roman period.

The sanctuary peribolus wall is a rectangular enclosure with the northern and southern sides being longer. At least two monumental gates were built in the eastern wall of the peribola. A temple, facing south-east, stands in the middle axis of the courtyard, shifting towards the back, to the west. It is on a podium, the bottom of the cella of which is occupied by the platform of an adyton, above a crypt. 

The peristyle consisted of a double row of six columns on the front, six columns on the short rear side and eleven columns on the long sides, with spans of unequal width on either side of the large central span. Its columns rested on pedestals set on the upper seat of the podium. They were made of an assembly of drums of reduced height, due to the peculiarities of the local basalt, from which large blocks cannot be made. The capitals which surmounted them are original. Only their upper part is known: it takes the unusual appearance of a gorget without leave or groove surmounted by a quadrangular abacus with a smooth molding in an inclined plane; at each angle of the abacus, the tip of a heavy leaf stuck to the gorget curls outward; on each side, a thin rough garland is suspended between the leaves.

The cella has a rectangular plan. In front, they are extended by antes. At the rear of the building, they are decorated with angular pilasters. The main door of the cella is not preserved. To the south, to the left of the entrance, the facade has a small door leading probably to a stairwell.

Five inscriptions relate to the layout of the sanctuary and the organization of local cults. The oldest indicates that, thanks to sacred funds, the construction of a wall was carried out in the years 160 CE, under the supervision of the priest Saizoubas son of Baréon and under the authority of his son Abiddaranes and Aboudemmos son of Sabinus . In a cartouche, on a column drum, a second inscription mentions new works under the priesthood and the curatorship of Sabinus, also known as Aboudemmos, son of Sabinus. More recent than a century, three other texts emanate from the priest Drusus: one of them is a dedication to Athena, probably the tutelary deity of the temple; the other two, engraved on two sides of the same plinth, commemorate the offering of statues of Nemesis and Kairos Kalos ("Auspicious Moment"), in February 262 CE.

Sources: 1, 2

[classicalmonuments]

Temple of Rabbos

Kanawat (Kanatha), Hauran, Syria

2nd/3rd century CE

The temple is a Cointhian Hexastyle* peripteral and faces toward the east, with a double row of six columns on the front, single rows of nine on the sides, and a single row of seven in the rear, the latter being a very unusual arrangement, probably adopted to regulate the intercolumniation. 

For years, this temple was believed to honour Helios, but an inscription discovered in 2002 shows that it was dedicated to a local god, Rabbos.

Seven of these columns are still standing to their full height. Only the plan of the exterior wall of the cella can be traced, but this shows a series of pilasters corresponding to the columns with only a narrow pteroma between. The whole temple stood on a podium, paved with large slabs of stone which formed the ceiling of a basement within the podium, and was approached by a flight of steps between two parotids on the east front of the temple. 

Originally there was probably a large paved court surrounding the whole building, and this has been shown in the plan though no data either for its existence or extent were found, other than the paved courts that surround many temples of the same period in the Hauran.

Pictures here recolorized for the first time using playback

Sources: 1, 2

[classicalmonuments]

Temple of Tyr-Apollo

Artashat (Artaxata), Armenia

1st century CE

The site is located on the left bank of the Arax River, next to the Taperakan (Artashat) Bridge. An earlier temple complex (189/188 BCE) was destroyed in the early 1st century, during the Roman campaign led by Domitius Corbulo, which sacked the city in 59.

A new platform was built over the old during the reign of T'rdat I (r. 53-60) and a new building was built on top. Both the platform and temple were made of limestone. Six wide steps (4.85m) led to the eastern entrance of the temple. The walls were decorated with bas relief sculptures. For a long time the locations of this site had been unknown and widely disputed. Among the artifacts found were varying sizes and types of imported and locally-made pottery including a remarkable find, a polished red lion-headed lug bowl. Also found was an eagle head made from limestone with eyes and neck painted dark red. In ancient times the lion was the symbol of the summer sun and the eagle was the symbol of both the sun and a messenger of the gods.

After Christianity was adopted as state religion the new temple, too, was destroyed.

Sources: 1, 2

[classicalmonuments]

Temple of Augustus

Mylasa (Milas), Asia minor (Turkey)

~1st century CE

The temple of Augustus was a hexastyle temple of the composite order. It was an unusual  peripteral temple with a square naos and lavishly decorated composite columns  with Acanthus bases, and garlands decorating the top of the shafts. Its entablatures frieze was decorated with alternating bucrania and tripods and its tympanum may had a window. The temple no longer exists as its materials have since partially been taken by Turks to build a mosque.

Couldn’t find almost any information on this temple, and the text above was written by me based on artistic reconstructions by painters who saw the ruin prior to its removal.

In 40 BCE Mylasa suffered great damage when it was taken by Labienus in the Roman Civil War. In the Greco-Roman period, though the city was contested among the successors of Alexander, it enjoyed a season of brilliant prosperity, and the three neighbouring towns of Euromus, Olymos and Labranda were included within its limits. Mylasa is frequently mentioned by ancient writers. At the time of Strabo the city boasted two remarkable orators, Euthydemos and Hybreas. Various inscriptions tell us that the Phrygian cults were represented here by the worship of Sabazios; the Egyptian, by that of Isis and Osiris. There was also a temple of Nemesis. An inscription from Mylasa[8] provided one of the few certain data about the life of Cornelius Tacitus, identifying him as governor of Asia in 112-13.

Sources: 1, 2, 3

[davidstanleytravel]

A stone stairway leads into the Temple of Zeus (470-457 BC) in ancient Olympia, Greece. The temple was a peripteral building with six columns on the narrow sides and 13 on the long. It was destroyed by earthquakes in 522 and 551 AD.

[the-msm]

DFW word of the day

Peripteral - ADJECTIVE: Architecture Having a single row of columns on all sides. ETYMOLOGY: From Latin peripteros, from Greek : peri-, peri- + pteron, wing; see pet- in Indo-European roots