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Thyrsis
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(1/2/04 10:41 am)
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All Greek Temples faced East?

Someone was telling me that all Greek Temples faced East; is this true? Why did they do this--was it prescribed by ritual custom? I also heard that there is something odd about the Parthenon in this respect--like the front faces East but you have to approach the west end of the building and walk around the thing before you can get into the bowels of the temple? If anyone could clarify things for me, I'd appreciate it.

Yours,
Thyrsis

Chris
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(1/2/04 10:42 am)
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Re: All Greek Temples faced East?

Most Greek temples faced east, but it's not true that all of them did. A famous example of one that doesn't is the well-preserved temple of Apollo at Bassae in Arcadia, which lies on a north-south axis. At Bassea, it seems to have been built that way for practical reasons (limited space). There is, however, a door facing east. I was at a dig in Asea, Arcadia in 1997, and the temple there did not face east, and there was no obvious reason for this.

>Why did they do this--was it prescribed by ritual custom?

That's the best explanation I guess - a custom, most likely started since it would face the sunrise when the door was in the east. Traditionally, churches are often laid out in the same way, with an apsis where the altar is placed in the east end. It's hard to tell when it started, but I've seen an unpublished thesis on Mycenean sanctuaries, and it seems that the direction is more or less random there. Iron Age sanctuaries are a bit
tricky, since most of the remains are just postholes, so it's not until the Archaich period that we can see a pattern.

> I also heard that there is something odd about the Parthenon in this respect--like the front faces East but you have to approach the west end of the building and walk around the thing before you can get into the bowels of the temple?

The east side of the acropolis of Athens is very steep, so the entrance was built on the west side. Thus, the first thing you see when you enter through the Propylaea is the west side of the Parthenon, and you would then have to go to the east side to find the entrance.

John Leeke
Unregistered User
(1/2/04 10:45 am)
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Re: All Greek Temples faced East?

I recall seeing a reference to a "find" by the archaeologists of a small and obscure inscription (or grafitti), that was made by the mason (tradesman) who worked on one of the ancient Greek temples. The mason had scratched some geometric figures into the surface of the stone. These figures were not part of the formal decoration, but simply a part of his way to figure out some detail of the temple's construction, rather like a modern carpenter might scribble on the back of a plank. Have you heard of such afind?

I would like to obtain a photo of such grafitti.

Thank you for your help.

John

wldtraveler
Registered User
Posts: 3
(5/28/07 6:08 am)
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why face east
This was an old chat but figured I'd answer anyhow. Many temples face east, southeast actually so that they align with the rising sun.

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