GREECE ATTICA SARONIC ISLANDS AEGINA

The island of Aegina in the Saronic Gulf, about half-way between Piraeus and the Peloponnese, is favoured by Athenians for excursions due to its mild climate and its beautiful landscape. The name goes back to Aegina, daughter of Asopos, who was carried off by Zeus to this island. Their son Aiakos was the first king of the island, which was actually settled as early as the 4th millenium BC and had commercial relations with the Cyclades, Crete and the mainland. When maritime trade was prospering in the 7th / 6th century BC, Aegina became a main rival of Athens with its port at Piraeus.

In the East of the island, beautifully situated on a pine-clad hill high above Agia Marina, lies the temple of Aphaia. It is known as "the most perfectly developed of the late Archaic temples in European Hellas", the attractive landscape and the superb view over the Saronic Gulf adding to its charm.

The temple was erected ca. 500 - 480 BC on top of a terrace over the remains of an earlier temple. As finds of 1901 by the German archaeologist Adolf Furtwängler showed, this was also dedicated to Aphaia. Her cult actually goes back as far as the 14th century BC. In Greek mythology, Britomartis - a grand-daughter of Zeus and favourite of Artemis - was pursued by Minos, the legendary king of Crete. Not reciprocating his affection, she finally saw no other way to escape than to plunge from a cliff. She was saved by Artemis, who brought her to Aegina where she was then worshipped as Aphaia.

Plan after Furtwängler: 1. Entrance - 2. South outer peribolos - 3. Outer terrace - 4. Dwellings of priests (Amphipoleion) - 5. Bath - 6. Propylon - 7. Base - 8. Dwellings of priests - 9. Propylon - 10. South terrace wall - 11. East peribolos - 12. Altar - 13. Altar - 14. Altar - 15. Ramp - 16. Temple - 17. Aqueduct - 18. Cistern - 19. Cave - 20. North terrace wall

The temple (13.77 x 28.81 m) stands on a three-stepped stereobate and is a Doric peripteros with originally 6 x 12 columns, nearly all of them monolithic. They are more slender than on other temples of this time, contributing to the graceful appearance of the sanctuary. Not only 24 of the columns are standing, much of the architrave is also preserved, the cella walls are partly rebuilt and parts of the Doric frieze are restored. All this makes the temple of Aphaia one of the better preserved monuments of this time.

The crepidoma, all of the columns and the walls of the cella are made of local limestone, covered with marble-like stucco still visible in places, whereas the sculptural decoration of the pediments (see Glyptothek next page) was of Parian marble.

Systematic excavations of the temple were carried out in the 20th century by the German School in Athens, at first under the direction of Adolf Furtwängler. Significant remains from the Bronze Age were also detected in pockets in the rocky surface of the hill. A second German excavation under Dieter Ohly 1966 - 1979 lead to the discovery in 1969 of substantial remains of an older Archaic temple in the fill of the later terrace walls. After the death of Dieter Ohly the dig was continued by Ernst-Ludwig Schwandner and Martha Ohly until 1988.