Bassae

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

**Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae**^a
**UNESCO World Heritage Site**

State Party	Greece
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, ii, iii
Identification	#392
Region^b	Europe and North America
Inscription History
Formal Inscription:	1986 10th Session
a Name as officially inscribed on the WH List b As classified officially by UNESCO

Bassae (Latin) or Bassai, Vassai or Vasses (Greek, Modern: Βασσές, Ancient: Βασσαί), meaning "little vale in the rocks",^[1] is an archaeological site at the southeastern end of the Ilia Prefecture that was a part of Arcadia in ancient times. Bassae lies south of Andritsaina, west of Megalopolis, east of Figaleia. It is famous for the well-preserved mid-5th century BCE Temple of Apollo Epikourios.

Although this temple is geographically remote, it is one of the most studied ancient Greek temples because of its multitude of unusual features. Bassae was the first Greek site to be inscribed on the World Heritage List (1986).^[2]

1 Temple of Apollo Epikourios
2 References
3 External link

[edit] Temple of Apollo Epikourios

The temple was dedicated to Apollo Epikourios ("Apollo the helper"). It was designed by Iktinos, architect of the Temple of Hephaestus and the Parthenon.^[1] The ancient writer, Pausanias places its construction as between 450 BCE and 425 BCE. It sits at an elevation of 1,131 metres^[1] above sea level on the slopes of Kotylion Mountain.

[edit] Construction and decoration

Floor plan of the Temple of Apollo

The temple is aligned north-south, in contrast to the majority of Greek temples which are aligned east-west. This was necessitated by the limited space available on the steep slopes of the mountain. To overcome this restriction a door was placed in the side of the temple, perhaps to allow worshippers to face east or let light in to illuminate the statue.

The temple is of a relatively modest size, with the stylobate measuring 38.3 by 14.5 metres^[3] containing a Doric peristyle of six by fifteen columns (hexastyle). It was constructed entirely out of grey Arcardian limestone^[4] except of the frieze which was carved from marble. Like most major temples it has three "rooms" or porches: the pronaos, plus a naos and an opisthodomos. The naos most likely once housed a cult statue of Apollo. The temple contains optical refinements similar to those found in the Parthenon, such as a curved floor.

Fragment of a metope, depicting an Amazon, displayed at the British Museum

The temple is unusual in that it has examples of all three of the classical orders used in ancient Greek architecture: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian.^[1] Doric columns form the peristyle while Ionic columns support the porch and Corinthian columns feature in the interior. The Corinthian capital is the earliest example of the order found to date.^[1]

It was relatively sparsely decorated on the exterior. Inside, however, there was a continuous Ionic frieze showing Greeks in battle with Amazons and the Lapiths engaged in battle with Centaurs.^[5]

[edit] Re-discovery and excavation

Foot fragment of a colossal statue at Bassae, displayed at the British Museum

The temple had been noticed by German and French travellers, but the first excavation was not begun until 1836. It was carried out by Russian archaeologists under the direction of Carlo Brullo. Perhaps the most striking discovery was the oldest Corinthian capital found to date. Some of the recovered artefacts are on display at the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow. Today the temple's metopes are in the British Museum, next to the Elgin Marbles.^[5]

In 1902, a systematic excavation of the area was carried out by the 1st Archaeological society of Athens under archaeologist K. Kourouniotis along with K. Romaios and P. Kavvadias. Further excavations were carried out in 1959, 1970 and from 1975-1979, under the direction of N.Gialouris.^[1]

[edit] Preservation

The temple's remoteness has worked to its advantage for its preservation. Other, more accessible temples were damaged or destroyed by war or by conversion to later religious uses, the Temple of Apollo escaped both these fates. Due to its distance from major metropolitan areas it also has less of a problem with acid rain which quickly dissolves limestone and damages marble carvings.

The temple of Apollo is presently covered in white tent with five rows in order to protect the ruins from the elements. Conservation work is currently being carried out under the supervision of the Committee of the Epicurean Apollo, which is based in Athens.^[1]