Temple of Athena (Paestum)

Temple of Athena (Paestum)
Temple of Athena at Paestum (so-called "Temple of Ceres"
General information
Location	Paestum, Campania

The Temple of Athena or Temple of Ceres (c. 500 BC) is a Greek temple found at Paestum, built near the so-called Basilica which is much larger than it.

It has a high pediment and a Doric frieze, made up of large blocks of limestone. The structure is simpler than the two temples of Hera nearby (the so-called Temple of Neptune and the Basilica): there is a pronaos and naos, but no adyton or opisthodomos (treasure room behind the naos).

One of the two surviving capitals from the pronaos

The inside of the wide pronaos contained eight columns in the ionic style (four frontal and two on each side), of which the bases and two capitals remain. These capitals, like those of the Basilica, burst from an ornate collar. This seems to be the first example of two architectural orders co-existing in a single building.^[1]

Traditionally, the temple was attributed to Ceres, but as a result of the recovery of numerous statuettes in terracotta depicting Athena, it is now thought to have been dedicated to this deity.

Notes

↑ Bianchi Bandinelli, 1986

Bibliography

Bianchi Bandinelli, Ranuccio; Paribeni, Enrico (1986). L'Arte dell'antichità classica. Grecia. Torino: UTET. p. 55.
Richter, Gisela Marie Augusta (1969). L'arte greca. Torino: Einaudi. p. 23.

Coordinates: 40°25′28″N 15°00′19″E / 40.4245°N 15.0054°E / 40.4245; 15.0054

Archaeological sites in Campania

Province of Avellino	Aeclanum Compsa

Province of Benevento	Benevento Arch of Trajan Roman Theatre Caudium Ligures Baebiani Saticula

Province of Caserta	Allifae Ausona (ancient city) Calatia Cales Santa Maria Capua Vetere Arch of Hadrian (Capua) Casilinum Sant'Angelo in Formis Sinuessa Trebula Balliensis Vescia

Province of Naples	Atella Baiae Cumae Grotta di Cocceio Herculaneum Villa of the Papyri Liternum Miseno Piscina Mirabilis Naples Aqua Augusta Bourbon Tunnel Catacombs of San Gaudioso Catacombs of San Gennaro Crypta Neapolitana Virgil's tomb Macellum of Naples Oplontis Villa Poppaea Palazzo a Mare Pompeii Pozzuoli Flavian Amphitheater (Pozzuoli) Lucrinus Lacus Lake Avernus Macellum of Pozzuoli Portus Julius Stabiae Suessula Castello Barbarossa Villa Jovis Villa Boscoreale

Province of Salerno	Monte Pruno Paestum Heraion at the mouth of the Sele Temple of Athena Second Temple of Hera Tomb of the Diver Pertosa Caves Velia Villa Romana of Minori

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