Temple of Poseidon, Sounion

The Temple of Poseidon is an ancient Greek temple on Cape Sounion, Greece, dedicated to the god Poseidon [1]. The temple of Poseidon at Sounion was constructed from 444 to 440 BCE [1]. This was during the ascendancy of the Athenian statesman Pericles [1]. The temple we see today is mainly made out of marble with an intricate taenia [1]. Executed between 1897 and 1915, Valerios Stais’ excavations of the Temple of Poseidon and the Temple of Athena at Sounion were, and continue to remain, the most elaborate and thorough excavations of these sites [1]. Stais uncovered a significant array of pottery, which included terracotta relief and painted plaques, small, terracotta sculptures, seals, scarabs, faience amulets, and metal objects that were likely remnants of jewelry or weapons [1]. In 1884, Wilhelm Dörpfeld conducted a systematic excavation of the area surrounding the Temple of Poseidon [1]. Dörpfeld uncovered the remnants of a previous Archaic limestone temple beneath the modern Temple of Poseidon [1].