Bassae

This remote temple is the 1st site in Greece to be added to the UNESCO world heritage list. The temple as it is dates to the 5th century BCE, and it replaced an earlier temple to Apollo. The name means Apollo the Helper for the god's aid in war.
The temple has been well studied as it contains a number of unusual features. It is the oldest building containing all 3 orders of columns: Doric around the outer walls; Ionic supporting the interior; and a single Corinthian column in the center which is the oldest Corinthian column yet found. The temple is important to the history of architecture.
Missing from the temple is the original 31 meter long marble frieze. (It's in the British Museum.) It depicts Hercules, Centaurs, Amazons, and more.
A large restoration project is under way. The temple is enclosed in a tent to protect it, and these pictures reflect the work.
The 1st picture looks into the main door between 2 columns. The 2nd picture looks at a bit more of the restoration work. The 3rd picture looks down one side. You can see that the older columns to the rear lean. They will be moved and the base rebuilt to stabilize everything. Notice, too, that the restored columns are whiter the the ones to the rear. These have been cleaned. It will eventually be all white.
The 4th picture looks into the center of the temple. The column base with the protective fence is the base of the Corinthian column. The 5th picture is the rear wall where a large niche was provided for offerings to the gods and goddesses including Apollo, Artemis and Aphrodite.
The last picture is of what is left of the 7th century BCE older temple to Apollo. The protective tent is visible in the background as the "new" (2500 year old) temple was built over part of the older one.Read more