GREECE PELOPONNESE ELEIA SKILLOUNTIA TEMPLE

Located on the top of a hillock about 1 km NE of present Skillountia is the temple of Athena, excavated in 1880. It is a Doric peripteral temple with originally 6 x 13 columns (length 35.10 m, width 15.85 m, former height probably 9.20 m), built towards the end of the 5th century BC perhaps by Xenophone. The temple is East-West oriented, stands on a three-stepped platform and has a pronaos, a cella with two internal rows of columns, and an opisthodomos. The sculptured pediment presented a Gigantomachy (East pediment) and an Amazonomachy (West pediment). All sculptures and the roof tiles were made of marble.

The temple probably belonged to the ancient city of Makistos, the remains of which have been found in the surrounding area along with the remains of two more temples.

Most parts of the temple were built of local shell limestone.