13 Facts About Erechtheion

Erechtheion or Temple of Athena Polias is an ancient Greek Ionic temple-telesterion on the north side of the Acropolis, Athens, which was primarily dedicated to the goddess Athena.

However, whether the Erechtheion referred to by Pausanias is indeed the Ionic temple or an entirely different building has become a point of contention in recent decades.

Erechtheion is unique in the corpus of Greek temples in that its asymmetrical composition doesn't conform to the canon of Greek classical architecture.

Classical Erechtheion is the last in a series of buildings approximately on the mid-north site of the Acropolis of Athens, the earliest of which dates back to the late Bronze Age Mycenaean period.

Archaeology under the Erechtheion is poorly evidenced for the archaic and early classical periods.

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The conventional view of the reconstruction of the interior of the Erechtheion naos is that it was divided in two in imitation of the opisthodomos of the archaic temple of Athena Polias and that the altar of Athena was in the west half of the chamber and the altars of Erechtheus, Poseidon and Boutes in the other.

Alternatively, that the Erechtheion was a replacement for the east cella of the archaic Temple of Athena and would have had an east cross wall.

Erechtheion'sar disputes this is a tomb since it does not follow the pattern of other religious tokens, for Erechtheion'sar the architectural supports are derived from the bases of the columns of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus and is typical of the miniaturization of elements of the Ionic style when it was imported from Asia Minor to the Greek mainland.

Erechtheion is a "remarkably luxurious" building in the detailing of its mouldings.

However, if we are to try to discern an overall theme then it can be argued the Erechtheion is the expression of the autochthonic nature of Athenian identity.

For many years, the accepted scholarly opinion has been that the Erechtheion fulfilled a triplicate purpose in its interior design: to “replace the Old Temple [of Athena], to house the old image, and to unite in an organized building several shrines and places of religious significance.

Certainly the Erechtheion was built to house a diverse collection of religious objects; something of a "museum of curiosities" in that regard.

Travellers' accounts of the Erechtheion are relatively scarce before the 18th century when relations between the Ottoman Empire and Europe began to improve and access to Greece opened up.