Tegea

Tegea was one of the most ancient and powerful cities of Arcadia in the Peloponnese, Greece, centred on the renowned Temple of Athena Alea, one of the most important religious sanctuaries in classical Greece. The original 7th-century BC Doric temple was destroyed by fire in 395 BC and rebuilt by the sculptor-architect Scopas of Paros as a peripteral hexastyle structure blending Doric, Corinthian, and Ionic orders. The temple housed an ivory cult statue of Athena and served as a famous place of asylum for fugitives, including exiled Spartan kings. The site also preserves remains of the agora, a theatre, and early Christian basilica foundations.