The Temple of Poseidon by junge1

Photography • Historical • posted on Aug 08, 2013

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Description

The ancient Greeks chose their temple sites carefully, with the prime considerations being a site's natural beauty and its appropriateness to the god in question. Nowhere is this more evident than at Cape Sounion, where the Temple of Poseidon stands on a craggy spur that plunges 65 meters to the sea. The temple was built in 444 BC at the same time as the Parthenon. It is constructed of local marble from Agrilesa and its slender columns - of which 16 remain - are Doric. It is thought that the temple was built by Ictinus, the architect of the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens' Ancient Agora. From the sea the temple is discernible from a long distance and the view from the temple is equally impressive. On a clear day, one can see Kea, Kythnos and Serifos to the south-east, and Aegina and the Peloponnese to the west. The English poet Lord Byron (1788-1824) was so taken with Sounion that he carved his name on one of the columns (Source: Lonely Planet, Greece, 1996). This picture was taken on 27 June 2013, Sig...

Comments (30)

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UVDan

10:05PM | Thu, 08 August 2013

That is so cool! And it is a beautiful shot as well! Looks like Greece has the same non dramatic skies we enjoy in Arizona.

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junge1

10:14PM | Thu, 08 August 2013

@UVDan: Yes Dan, during the summer anyway!

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Faemike55

10:34PM | Thu, 08 August 2013

Very beautiful Great capture Sig

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jocko500

11:17PM | Thu, 08 August 2013

real cool

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tigertim

12:26AM | Fri, 09 August 2013

Very cool.. a great photo and thanks for the narrative, very informative.

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auntietk

1:27AM | Fri, 09 August 2013

I like the simplicity of Doric columns. So elegant! Whenever I see Corinthian columns it makes me think somebody should probably get up there and give all those nooks and crannies a good dusting. LOL! This is a beautiful place ... a wonderful shot!

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