The Temple of Athena Alei is one of the most famous temples of the Greek goddess Athena

At one time the temple of Athena Alei was considered one of the greatest creations created by man. His beauty fascinated, forcing to believe that the ancient gods really existed. Even today, this place is saturated with the amazing energy that surrounded it for many centuries. But, unfortunately, only the ruins of the temple have reached us.

Why did such a magnificent place experience the bitterness of destruction? Why did the power of the ancient gods of the Greeks in an instant evaporate, leaving their former havens unprotected? And what secrets about the past is hidden in the temple of Athena Alei?

Athena - the goddess of war and wisdom

So, any story must have its beginning and end. It so happened that our origins lead far into the depths of history, at the time when the great legend of the goddess Athena appeared. According to the belief of the Hellenes, she was the fifth daughter of Zeus, which made her very powerful.

And although she was considered a warrior, she was very different from her brother Ares. She was not as aggressive and reckless as he was. Its destiny is the planning of strategy and tactics, thanks to which wars ended with minimal losses. She was also considered the patroness of scientists and artisans. And if you believe the ancient legends, it was she who taught the girls to create a fabric and sew clothes from it.

Given this range of possibilities, it is not surprising that her cult was one of the largest in ancient Greece. By the number of adherents, she could compete even with Zeus himself, the king of all gods.

Tsar Alei

Tegei is an ancient city located on the territory of modern Greece. Nobody knows when exactly it was erected, because there is no reliable information about it. However, according to historical chronicles in the VI century BC. E. He fell under the yoke of the Spartans, whom he needed because of a strategically advantageous location.

Almost two hundred years, the rule of strangers continued, until the legendary Tsar Alei came to power. They say that Athena herself endowed him with wisdom, which everyone envied. For this, the future king promised to build in her honor a temple of unprecedented beauty.

Erection of the temple

Perhaps it's all fiction, but Aley still built a great building in honor of the goddess. And not far from the temple, he also built his own mansion, in order to always be under the care of Athena. It should be noted that it was this king who led the Tegei to their greatness. During his reign, not only the temple of Athena Aleia was built, but many other beautiful buildings were erected.

But, alas, the marvelous sanctuary was not destined to live long. In 395 BC. E. In Tegea there was a big fire. The fire took with it many lives, and the third part of all buildings in the city was burned to the ground. In their number entered and the ancient temple of Athena, in place of which there were only charred stones.

New architectural masterpiece

The fall of the temple terrified people, because they did not want to lose the patronage of a good goddess. And yet his reconstruction was delayed a little, and the reason for this was the political reforms, thanks to which the great Arcadian League was formed. It was this union that allowed the Hellenes to finally cast off the shackles of Sparta's bondage.

After the world reigned over most of Arcadia, the power of Tegev took up the restoration of the temple of Athena Aleia. As the chief architect was selected Skopas. The creations of this genius have long struck the whole of Greece with their beauty and grandeur, not to mention the fact that he was the creator of many temples of the time.

The very same reconstruction began in 465 BC. E. And took several years. But it was worth it, because the new structure was much more grand than the one that preceded it.

What did the ancient temple of Athena look like?

The creation of Scopas was different from all that he had built earlier. The new temple was designed in such a way that all its details spoke about the richness of this place. Everywhere there were carved frescoes, engravings and skilfully sculpted statues.

The very same temple was a classical peripter. Simply put, it was a rectangular structure framed by a number of columns. The building was approximately 20 meters wide and 50 meters long. The height of the outer columns was in the limit of 9.7 meters, which made the temple of Athena Aley one of the tallest buildings in the city.

Before the entrance to the temple stood an altar made of marble and decorated with carved decorations. Residents of Tegeev often brought here their gifts, in order to please Athena and ask for her protection. Another sanctuary was in the temple itself, but it was intended, rather, for the priestesses, rather than for mere mortals.

Life inside the temple

If you believe the ancient scrolls, the first priestess of the temple of Athena was the daughter of the king, Alei Oj. After this, an indestructible tradition has developed that only girls whose honor has not been affected can serve the goddess. And therefore, as soon as they reached sexual maturity, they were replaced by new priestesses, forming a continuous cycle.

One of the main treasures of the temple was the statue of the goddess Athena. It was carved from ivory, and its detailing simply amazed the minds of the parishioners. They say that the goddess herself posed for the sculptor, because how else could such a miracle happen?

Also, the temple of Athena served as a refuge, able to protect anyone from any disaster, whether it be a resident of the city or a wanderer.

The fall of the faith of the ancient Greeks

Unfortunately, saving others, the temple of Athena Alei in Tegea could not protect itself from destruction. The first blow to his pride was the invasion of the Romans, who though with respect for the culture of other nations, still loved to take the most valuable things to their homeland. That's why, after seeing the statue in the temple, they treacherously broke it and sent it to the capital.

However, the decline of the temple of Athena was the arrival of Christianity. The new religion completely ousted the old gods, and with them their asylum. Having lost their parishioners, they began to decline, and former glory quickly left their walls.

Ruins of the Great Temple

Sadly, today there is only a pile of stones on the site of the ancient temple of Athena. And yet, thanks to the titanic work of archaeologists, we still managed to find the many parts that served as the basis for the sanctuary.

For example, in the Greek Museum there is a part of wall engravings from the temple, which testify to the craftsmanship of artisans of that time. Also, scientists were lucky to find fragments of ancient sculptures and columns leading the entrance to the temple. Many of these pieces were sent to various museums of world history, in order to clearly demonstrate how good our ancestors were in the manufacture of truly majestic and beautiful things.