Temple E, Selinus

Temple E at Selinus in Sicily is a Greek temple of Magna Graecia of the Doric order [1]. It is found on the hill to the east of the city's acropolis [1]. Temple E is also known as the Temple of Hera because an inscription found on a votive stela indicates that it was dedicated to Hera; however, some scholars argue that it must have been dedicated to Aphrodite on the basis of structural parallels [1]. It was built towards the middle of the fifth century BC on top of the foundations of a more ancient building [1]. It is the best conserved of the temples of Selinus but its present appearance is the result of anastylosis (reconstruction using original material) performed—controversially—in 1959 [1]. The peripteral temple belongs to the period of transition from the archaic to the classical period [1]. It has a peristyle 25.33 wide x 67.82 metres long with six columns at the front and fifteen on the long sides [1]. The columns are each 10.19 metres high with numerous traces of the stucco which originally covered them [1].