Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia: The Tholos of Delphi

The Story of the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia

Travelers arriving at Delphi from the east in ancient times came first not to Apollo but to Athena. Her sanctuary lay on a terrace below the cliffs, along the road that led up to the oracle, and she was honored here as Athena Pronaia, meaning Athena before the temple. Pilgrims stopped to worship her before continuing to the great sanctuary of Apollo above. Today the area is often called Marmaria, a local name meaning the marbles, because villagers once took stone from its ruins.

The sanctuary was sacred from very early times. Offerings found here date back to the Mycenaean period, and the first temple of Athena was built in the Archaic period. It was rebuilt in the late 6th century BC, and in the 4th century BC a new temple of limestone was built at the western end of the terrace. Altars, treasuries and other buildings stood between them, creating a long line of monuments along the narrow ledge.

The most famous building is the Tholos, a round temple built in the early 4th century BC. It had a ring of 20 Doric columns on the outside and Corinthian half columns inside, crowned with a conical roof. The Roman architect Vitruvius mentions that a man named Theodorus of Phocaea wrote a book about it, and he is usually considered its designer. Nobody knows exactly what the Tholos was used for or which deity it honored, which only adds to its mystery.

The sanctuary is linked with a dramatic moment in the Persian Wars. The historian Herodotus tells that in 480 BC a Persian force marched on Delphi to plunder its treasures. As they approached the sanctuary of Athena Pronaia, thunder crashed and two great rocks broke away from the cliffs of Parnassus and crashed down on them. Terrified, the Persians fled. The Delphians said the gods had defended their own sanctuary.

The mountain that protected the sanctuary could also harm it. Over the centuries, rockfalls and earthquakes damaged its buildings, and in 1905 a large rock slide struck the old temple of Athena. The sanctuary was excavated by French archaeologists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and in the 1930s three of the Tholos columns, with part of their entablature, were raised again, creating the famous image seen in countless photographs.

Close to the sanctuary lie the remains of the ancient gymnasium of Delphi, where young athletes trained for the Pythian Games, and further up the road the Castalian Spring, where pilgrims purified themselves before consulting the oracle. Together these sites show that Delphi was not just one temple, but a whole sacred landscape spread across the mountainside.

Today the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia can be reached on foot from the main site of Delphi, a short walk along the road and down a path. It is usually much quieter than Apollo's sanctuary above, and early morning or late afternoon light makes the Tholos glow against the dark slopes of the valley. Take your time, sit among the olive trees and enjoy one of the most beautiful views in Greece.