The Temple of Apollo, also known as the Sanctuary of Apollo, is a

Roman temple Ancient Roman temples were among the most important buildings in culture of ancient Rome, Roman culture, and some of the richest buildings in Architecture of ancient Rome, Roman architecture, though only a few survive in any sort of complete ...

built in 120 BC and dedicated to the Greek and Roman god

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

in the ancient Roman town of

Pompeii Pompeii ( ; ) was a city in what is now the municipality of Pompei, near Naples, in the Campania region of Italy. Along with Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Villa Boscoreale, many surrounding villas, the city was buried under of volcanic ash and p ...

, southern Italy. The sanctuary was a public space influenced by Roman colonists to be dedicated to Greco-Roman religion and culture.

Architecture in the Forum

Located in the forum (market place) and facing the northern side of the town, it is the town's most important religious building. It was one of the two earliest temples built in Pompeii, the other being the Temple of Minerva and Hercules, which was near the forum. The cult of Apollo, imported from Greece, was widespread in

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

, and from excavations in the temple's vicinity has been shown to have been present in Pompeii since the 6th century BC. The sanctuary's present appearance dates from its 2nd-century BC rebuild, and a further reconstruction to repair damage from the 62 earthquake, in which a large part of the temple collapsed and repairs which were left incomplete at the time of the eruption. The temple, in the center of a

sacred enclosure In the study of the history of religions and anthropology, a sacred enclosure refers to any structure intended to separate two spaces: a sacred space and a profane space. Generally, it is a separation wall erected to mark the difference between t ...

, was surrounded on all four sides by a wide series of

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock co ...

columns from Nocera, originally grooved and with Ionic capitals, that were being replaced with

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

columns and Corinthian capitals painted in yellow, red and dark blue. Pompeii Regio 07 Insula 07 Temple of Apollo plan 01

The temple itself, a

peripteros In Classical architecture Classical architecture typically refers to architecture consciously derived from the principles of Ancient Greek architecture, Greek and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or more ...

with 48

Ionic column The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite o ...

s, was on a high podium and entered up an imposing set of steps, in a fusion of Greek and Italic architectural ideas. Unusually, the

cella In Classical architecture, a or naos () is the inner chamber of an ancient Greek or Roman temple. Its enclosure within walls has given rise to extended meanings: of a hermit's or monk's cell, and (since the 17th century) of a biological cell ...

is sited further back with respect to the

peristyle In ancient Ancient Greek architecture, Greek and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture, a peristyle (; ) is a continuous porch formed by a row of columns surrounding the perimeter of a building or a courtyard. ''Tetrastoön'' () is a rare ...

. In front of the steps may still be seen a white marble altar on a

travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and rusty varieties. It is formed by a process ...

base, with a Latin inscription giving the names of the

quattuorvir The duumviri (Latin for 'two men'), originally duoviri and also known in English as the duumvirs, were any of various joint magistrates of ancient Rome. Such pairs of Roman magistrates were appointed at various periods of Roman history both in ...

i who dedicated it. To side of the steps is an Ionic column that supported a

sundial A sundial is a horology, horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the position of the Sun, apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the ...

and an inscribed plaque that was donated by a pair of magistrates, who are recorded to have donated another plaque and seat at th
Triangular Forum
In the side of the perimeter wall of the Temple of Apollo, facing onto the town's

forum Forum or The Forum may refer to: Common uses *Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States *Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city **Roman Forum, most famous example * Internet forum, discussion board ...

, a niche is extracted containing the ''mensa ponderaria''; the table with the town's official measures, to guarantee the citizen against fraudulent shopkeepers and merchandise.

Excavations

Excavation of the temple first began in February of 1817 and it was mistakenly identified as the Temple of Venus and then as the

Temple of Mercury The Temple of Mercury was a sanctuary in Ancient Rome on the Aventine Hill, which was dedicated to the god Mercury. Samuel Ball Platner, s.v. Aedes Mercurii, in A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, London, Oxford University Press, 1929, p ...

when fragments of a marble statue and two bronze arms positioned to fire an arrow were recovered. The fragments belong to the temple's deities – one representing Apollo, the other a bust of Diana – both of which would have been facing the columns of the portico. They are in display in th
J. Paul Getty Museum
in Malibu, California, though copies of two of them have been placed where the originals were found. The elegant Doric

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; , also called an epistyle; ) is the lintel or beam, typically made of wood or stone, that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can also apply to all sides, including the vertical members, ...

metope A metope (; ) is a rectangular architectural element of the Doric order, filling the space between triglyphs in a frieze , a decorative band above an architrave. In earlier wooden buildings the spaces between triglyphs were first open, and ...

s and

triglyph Triglyph is an architectural term for the vertically channeled tablets of the Doric frieze in classical architecture, so called because of the angular channels in them. The rectangular recessed spaces between the triglyphs on a Doric frieze are ...

s resting on the columns was transformed into a continuous frieze with

griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (; Classical Latin: ''gryps'' or ''grypus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk ...

festoon A festoon (from French ''feston'', Italian ''festone'', from a Late Latin ''festo'', originally a festal garland, Latin ''festum'', feast) is a wreath or garland hanging from two points, and in architecture typically a carved ornament depicti ...

s and foliage. Today, the remains of the temple front appear as they originally did, since almost all of this transformation in plaster has disappeared.

Bibliography

* Zanker, Paul. 1998. Pompeii: public and private life. * Beard, Mary. 2008. The Fires of Vesuvius: Pompeii Lost and Found * Boschi, Federica; Rescigno, Carlo (2021). “The sanctuary of Apollo in Pompeii: new geophysical and archaeological investigations.” GROM Documenting Archeology. * Cooley, Alison E.; Cooley, M. G. L.. 2014. Pompeii and Herculaneum: A Sourcebook. * Van Andringa, William. "Statues in the Temples of Pompeii." ''Historical and Religious Memory in the Ancient World''(2012): 83.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Temple Of Apollo

2nd-century BC religious buildings and structures

Architecture in the Forum

Excavations

See also

Bibliography

References

External links