The Temple of Hephaestus is an ancient Greek temple overlooking the Agora of Athens from the hill of Kolonos Agoraios, and it is among the best-preserved Doric temples in Greece. It was dedicated to Hephaestus, the god of metalworking, and to Athena Ergane, patron of craftspeople, as the surrounding district was home to foundries and workshops. Its architecture, with six columns on the short sides and thirteen on the long ones, is closely related to the Parthenon and was built of Pentelic marble, and some scholars attribute it to the same architect or workshop, though this is a hypothesis. For a long time it was wrongly called the Theseion, as it was thought to be a shrine of the hero Theseus. It survived largely intact because it was converted into a Christian church, probably dedicated to Saint George.
Before and after
- 460 BCEBirth of Hippocrates
- 456 BCEDeath of Aeschylus
- c. 451 BCEThe Twelve Tables, Rome's first written law
- from 450 BCE to 15 CELa Tène culture
- c. 449 BCEConstruction of the Temple of Hephaestus
- from 448 BCE to 433 BCEConstruction of the Parthenon begins
- 445 BCEBirth of Aristophanes
- from 431 BCE to 404 BCEPeloponnesian War
- from c. 430s BCE to 470sStatue of Zeus at Olympia
More in Civilizations & archaeology
- c. 1,200 BCEIron Age
- c. 700s BCEConstruction of Great Wall of China
- 6th century BCEConstruction of Parthenon
- 81 CEConstruction of Colosseum
- 11 May 330 CEConstantine dedicates Constantinople
- from 476 CE to 1492Middle Ages
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires. You can also browse everything in the 5th century BCE.