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Sights of Interest in Greece
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The Temple of Aphaia in Aegina
27-03-2013 17:29The Temple of Aphaia in Aegina is one of the most impressive buildings in the Late Archaic period. The church that stands in the sanctuary of Aphaia was founded by Aegean residents to honor the Minoan goddess Aphaia, daughter of Zeus and Karmis. Aphaia has been identified by many researchers with the Britomartis and also the Diktynna Artemis.
Myth says that Aphaia fled to Aegina and hid in a forest to escape the amorous fury of King Minos of Crete. The temple was built in the 570-560 BC but was destroyed by fire. In 500-490 BC it was rebuilt in its final form. Unfortunately the temple was not maintained for a long time and in the second century AD, the entire area was abandoned.
The church is a classical example of Doric rhythm and considered by many as the model had in mind the architects of the Parthenon. The temple has 12 columns on the long sides and 6 on the front side and they all are monoliths with 20 ribs , except 3 of them which are consisting of vertebrae. The entrance to the temple was a ramp on the east side. The sculptures of the pediments were of Parian marble. The theme of the two pediments of the temple of Aphaia are the legendary Troy as in this war Telamonas, Aiantas and Achilleas were distinguished .
The goddess Athena is present in every representation, so it is not surprising that sometimes the church was mentioned as Aphaia of Athina.
The temple was abandoned until 1811 when an English architect and a German baron decided to do the first excavations in the area.
Today parts of the sculptures are in a museum in Munich .
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