Stoa Amphiaraion (also known as the Enkoimeterion) is located on the east side of the
Sanctuary of Amphiaraios, southeast of the Theatre.
It was built c. 360 BC. The two-aisled
stoa
A stoa (; plural, stoas,"stoa", ''Oxford English Dictionary'', 2nd Ed., 1989 stoai, or stoae ), in ancient Greek architecture, is a covered walkway or portico, commonly for public use. Early stoas were open at the entrance with columns, usually ...
opens towards the southeast with an outer
Doric colonnade
In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...
of forty-one columns and an inner
Ionic colonnade of seventeen columns.
Before its destruction, two small rooms were separated from the rest of the stoa by two columns with a screen between them and a bench running the length of the back wall.
Pilgrim
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star.
Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...
s would migrate to the stoa and sleep there, awaiting an
oracle
An oracle is a person or thing considered to provide insight, wise counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. If done through occultic means, it is a form of divination.
Descript ...
's advice. The rooms may have served as shelter specifically for female pilgrims. A level area in front of the stoa may have been used as a track. This stoa likely replaced an existing one, located further southwest on the terrace where the later row of dedications stood.
References
Colonnades
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