Reconstruction of the lost great temples of Ionia

Abstract

The Ionic order of architecture reached its culmination with the construction of the four great Ionic Temples on the Eastern coast of the Aegean Sea. These were the fruits of the great temple-building epoch that began with the building of the Great Temple of Hera at Samos in the first half of the 6th century B.C. This period had passed by the end of the 5th century B.C; but the recurrence of destruction, of fires caused by arsonists, rioters and invaders required the reconstruction of these structures. In this paper, the history of their construction, reconstruction and destruction are related. The exceptional architects who had defined and clarified the style and the principles of construction, together with the superstructures they created are studied from the accounts by ancient writers, fragments in museums and the surviving insitu evidence. Finally, their 3D reconstructions are realized so far as is been possible. © Archaeopress and the individual authors 2018. All rights reserved.