The Temple of the Delians is the largest of the three cult temples dedicated to Apollo within the temenos of the Sanctuary of Apollo on the Greek island of Delos. It is also known as the Great Temple or the Delian Temple of Apollo.
History
Construction was funded by the Delian League and began in 476 BC. Construction was interrupted in 454 BC when the Delian Treasury was transferred to Athenian control. Work resumed during Delos's period of independence after 314 BC. The finishing touches and decorative embellishments were never completed.
The temple was principally destroyed during the Mithridatic Wars and only the lower foundations, stylobate, and fragmented columns remain today.
Description
The Temple of the Delians is a Doric peripteral temple, with 6 columns on each short side and 13 columns along each length. The cella is aligned opening to the west with a pronaos and an opisthodomos, both distyle in antis. The temple foundations measure ca. 30 x 13 meters overall.
The temple contained the cult statue of Apollo and centuries of precious offerings. One of the treasures of the temple was a statue of Apollo made by "Angelion and Tektaos, sons of Dionysiodotos", who depicted the god with three Charites (Graces) in his hand.
The famous Colossus of the Naxians stood in the adjacent courtyard.
Ancient descriptions
Strabo describes the myth behind the ancient worship of Apollo and Artemis in Delos: Now the city which belongs to Delos, as also the temple of Apollon, and the Letoion (Temple of Leto), are situated in a plain; and above the city lies Kynthos, a bare and rugged mountain; and a river named Inopos flows through the island - not a large river, for the island itself is small. From olden times, beginning with the times of the heroes, Delos has been revered because of its gods, for the myth is told that there Leto was delivered of her travail by the birth of Apollon and Artemis : 'for aforetime,' says Pindaros, 'it was tossed by the billows, by the blasts of all manner of winds, but when [Leto] the daughter of Koios in the frenzied pangs of childbirth set foot upon it, then did four pillars, resting on adamant, rise perpendicular from the roots of the earth, and on their capitals sustain the rock. And there she gave birth to, and beheld, her blessed offspring.' The neighboring islands, called the Kyklades, made it famous, since in its honor they would send at public expense sacred envoys, sacrifices, and choruses composed of virgins, and would celebrate great general festivals there [in honour of Apollon, Artemis and Leto].
According to Strabo, Apollo and his twin Artemis were both worshipped as gods of healing and as such also identified with Helios and Selene respectively: Both Milesians [at Didyma] and Delians invoke an Apollo Oulios, that is, as god of 'health and healing,' for the verb oulein means 'to be healthy'; whence the noun 'oule' and the salutation, 'Both health and great joy to thee'; for Apollon is the god of healing. And Artemis has her name from the fact that she makes people artemeas (Safe and Sound). And both Helios (Sun) and Selene (Moon) are closely associated with these, since they are the causes of the temperature of the air. And both pestilential diseases and sudden deaths are imputed to these gods.
Strabo described the festival of Delos as an occasion of both religious worship as well as commercial opportunities, but also the destruction of the temple: Now although Delos had become so famous, yet the razing of Korinthos to the ground by the Romans increased its fame still more; for the importers changed their business to Delos because they were attracted both by the immunity which the temple enjoyed and by the convenient situation of the harbor; for it is happily situated for those who are sailing from Italy and Greece to Asia. The general festival [of Apollon] is a kind of commercial affair, and it was frequented by Romans more than by any other people, even when Korinthos was still in existence. And when the Athenians took the island they at the same time took good care of the importers as well as of the religious rites. But when the generals of [the Persian] Mithridates, and the tyrant who caused it to revolt, visited Delos, they completely ruined it, and when the Romans again got the island, after the king withdrew to his homeland, it was desolate; and it has remained in an impoverished condition until the present time. It is now held by the Athenians. Rheneia is a desert isle within four stadia from Delos, and there the Delians bury their dead; for it is unlawful to bury, or even burn, a corpse in Delos itself, and it is unlawful even to keep a dog there. In earlier times it was called Ortygia.