Temple of Apollo

Fun Facts

• • Evidence of its time as a mosque was found in an Arabic inscription on the surviving wall, likely part of the mihrab.
• • For centuries, the temple was completely swallowed by the urban fabric of Syracuse, with parts of the structure becoming interior walls of private bedrooms.
• • It consisted of 46 monolithic columns, an immense engineering challenge that required transportation by sea in the 6th century BC.
• • It contains an adyton, a sacred inner chamber on the rear of the cella, which became a standard feature in many later Sicilian temples.
• • It is officially recognised as the oldest Doric temple in the entire Western Greek world, serving as a prototype for later structures.
• • It was part of the wider Siracusa and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica UNESCO World Heritage site designation.
• • The 18th-century traveller Dominique Vivant Denon famously described having to enter a local resident's bedroom to catch a glimpse of the surviving column capitals.
• • The architecture represents a crucial experimental phase where builders transitioned from using timber structures to fully stone construction.
• • The columns are unusually squat and close together, a sign of the architects' cautious, pioneering approach to supporting a heavy stone entablature.
• • The site was once part of a larger complex that included a Byzantine church, reflecting the religious layering typical of historical Syracuse.
• • The temple features a rare, ancient inscription on the eastern steps: 'Kleomedes, son of Knidieidas, made this for Apollo and raised the colonnades'.
• • The temple shows early, clumsy attempts at Doric order perfection, such as the uneven spacing of columns and triglyphs that do not align perfectly.