The Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia at Delphi | Highlights & Visitor Information

Address: Delphi 330 54, Greece | Find on map

Location: On a terrace below the main Delphi temple complex, about 1 km south-east

Date of construction: Between the 7th and 4th centuries BCE

Built by: The Alcmaeonidae family, Theodorus Phoceus 

Function: Shrine to the Greek goddess Athena

Highlights: Tholos of Athena Pronaia, Temples of Athena, treasuries, and altars to Greek gods and goddesses.

• The terrace on which the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia is located was called the “Marmaria” because many of its structures were built from marble, including Parian and Pentellic marble.
• The sanctuary was surrounded by a low stone wall to mark the “temenos” or the sacred precinct.
• The first and the second temples of Athena were both made of porous stone and had Doric columns. Pillars built in the Doric style are simple but elegant in design with equally simple capitals – the top part of the pillar that supports the structure above it. Two columns from the first temple have been preserved.
• The third temple of Athena was made of limestone and had fewer columns than its predecessors.
• The Tholos, the most impressive structure in the sanctuary, was made of marble from Attica. It had a ring of elegant Doric columns that supported a domed roof, with shorter, more decorated Corinthian columns inside. The domed roof was richly decorated with sculptures, friezes, and metopes, and parts of it can now be seen at the Delphi Archaeological Museum.
• The Treasury of the Massalians was made of Parian marble. It had two columns, whose capitals had palm carvings on them in a style resembling the ornate Corinthian order. The treasury was decorated with elaborate friezes depicting battle scenes. It also featured acroteria, which are Classical Greek architectural ornaments.