Space & Time
History of the Site
A significant turning point in the sanctuary's history was its destruction by the Persians in 480 B.C. After this, the North Temple was rebuilt during the Classical period, while the South Temple was left in ruins. The investigation of the North Temple and its predecessors has been concluded, but not the investigation of the South Temple and its predecessor buildings. The Archaic South Temple, built circa 580 B.C. and destroyed by the Persians, is of great importance for the history of Doric temple construction, as it represents the transition from timber to stone building techniques: its columns were made of wood, while its pediment was of stone. On the north and west sides of the temple, traces of the Persian destruction are exceptionally well preserved: charred wooden columns and roof beams, along with ceramic roof tiles found in a fallen position. Discoveries so far unique in Greece include the remains of eight wooden chariot wheels with iron rims, which had seemingly been hung as votive offerings on the wooden architraves of the Archaic temple, as well as the stone West Pediment, found in its collapsed position.
Beneath the Archaic South Temple are at least four predecessor buildings that span the 'Dark Ages' and reach back into the Mycenaean period of the Late Bronze Age. The 'Dark Ages' represent one of the most interesting periods in Greek cultural history. While long regarded as a period of decline and stagnation following the collapse of the Mycenaean palatial culture around 1200 BC, recent discoveries – most notably those at the Necropolis of Lefkandi on Euboea – now provide clear evidence that they were by no means as dark as previously assumed. They also demonstrate that a number of fundamental prerequisites for the rise of Greek culture later in the 1st millennium B.C. were being established during the 'Dark Ages'.
While several necropoleis and settlements from this period were known previously, no sanctuaries had been found on the Greek mainland. The excavations beneath the South Temple of the sanctuary at Kalapodi therefore offered a unique opportunity to gain essential insights into the development of cult and religion in Central Greece throughout the 'Dark Ages' as well as into the origins of the Doric temple, thereby providing significant insights into the so-called Dark Ages.