You are here

Home

The Columns of the Heraion at Olympia: Dörpfeld and Early Doric Architecture

October 2016 (120.4)
Article

The Columns of the Heraion at Olympia: Dörpfeld and Early Doric Architecture

120.4
Philip Sapirstein
Purchase Article

This article presents the first results of an ongoing investigation of the Temple of Hera at Olympia. Because it is traditionally believed that the temple was designed with wooden columns that were only later replaced by the stone columns now in situ, the Heraion has been widely cited as a key example for the tectonic theory of the origins of Doric architecture. However, a review of the archaeological evidence at Olympia and comparable sites, the testimony of Pausanias, and the findings from recent fieldwork demonstrate that the Heraion’s peristyle was very likely stone from the beginning. This challenge to the traditional understanding of the construction history of the Heraion has broad ramifications for our understanding of early Doric architecture.

More articles like this: 
Archaic Period
Architecture
History of Archaeology
Masonry
Greece > Peloponnese

The Columns of the Heraion at Olympia: Dörpfeld and Early Doric Architecture

By Philip Sapirstein

American Journal of Archaeology Vol. 120, No. 4 (October 2016), pp. 565–601

DOI: 10.3764/aja.120.4.0565

© 2016 Archaeological Institute of America

  • Share