The Temple of Aphaia, or Aphea, is an ancient temple dedicated to the ancient Greek goddess of fertility, Aphaia, on the island of Aegina. It is located on the top of a picturesque hill, 160 m above sea level about 13 km from the administrative centre of the island, near the resort town of Agia Marina, and it is probably one of the most famous and interesting sights of Aegina, as well as an important architectural and historical monument.
The results of archaeological excavations indicate that an open-air sanctuary existed here since about 1300 BC, and the first religious building was erected only at the beginning of the 7th century BC. In total, it is possible to distinguish three main stages of construction of the temple - in the 7th, 6th and 5th centuries BC (to such conclusions first came the German archaeologist Adolf Furtwängler, leading the excavations of the ancient temple in the early 20th century).
The first sanctuary, dating back to the 7th century BC, is thought to have been of very modest size, although the fragments found during the excavations do not provide a complete picture and it is possible that much of the structure may be hidden beneath later structures, which are too likely to be damaged and more detailed investigations are not possible. The second sanctuary was built around 570 BC and destroyed by fire in 510 BC. Fragments of this temple were subsequently used in the construction of the terrace for the new sanctuary, and therefore quite well preserved to this day and give a fairly good idea of its architectural features. The temple, or rather its ruins, which we see today was built around 490 BC from local limestone (only the pediment and sculptures decorating it were made of Paros marble) and was a typical periptera, surrounded by a colonnade (32 columns, 6x12) on a three-stage base (13.79 by 28.50 m on the stylobate).
Despite the fact that the temple of Aphaia only partially preserved to our days, you can still appreciate the monumentality of this structure and the skill of ancient architects. The sculptures that once adorned the pediment of the ancient temple are now on display in Munich's Glyptothek.
