Archaic Temple Architecture in Arcadia

Abstract

A surprisingly rich tradition of monumental temple architecture, which has so far received little attention, existed in Arcadia in the archaic period. The impressive, late 7th century temple of Athena Alea at Tegea is now known to have been preceded by two simple cult buildings of Late Geometric date, of small dimensions and of simple materials reflecting, probably intentionally, early prehistorical architecture. Based on the early archaic temple, a fine tradition of Doric temples using local marble developed and can be traced through the 6th century B.C., coming to an abrupt end in the first half of the 5th century. Some of its characteristics, such as the open spacing of the colonnades and the avoidance of angle contraction, are significantly different from the mainstream of archaic Dorism, as exemplified e.g. in the temple of Apollo at Corinth.