Temple of Hephaestus
Temple of Hephaestus in Athens
Temple of Hephaestus
The Temple of Hephaestus – known as the Thision or Hephaisteion – began to be built in 449 B.C. by Ictinus. It was one of the first structures in the reconstruction program of Pericles and, today, is the best preserved monument in the Ancient Agora and the best saved temple in Athens.
It is a Doric order peripteral temple with a pronaos and a opisthodomos on top of the Agoraios Kolonos hill. It has 34 pillars and one metope in the east that represents 9 of the 12 Labours of Hercules.
The Temple of Hephaestus was dedicated to the worship of Hephaestus and Athena, of which there were bronze statues of inside. Hephaestus was the god of metal working and craftsmanship. From 1300 A.D. it functioned as the church Agios Georgios (St. George), but with the arrival of King Otto to Greece in 1834, the last Christian liturgy took place.
