Temple of Athena, Paestum

The Temple of Athena is a Greek temple of Magna Graecia found at Paestum, in Capaccio Paestum [1]. It was built around 500 BC and was for some time incorrectly thought to have been dedicated to Ceres, but as a result of the recovery of numerous statuettes in terracotta depicting Athena, it is now thought to have been dedicated to her [1]. Built on an artificial relief of the ground, it has a high pediment on the façade and a Doric frieze, adorned with metopes encased in sandstone [1]. The interior of the wide pronaos contained six columns in the Ionic style, of which the bases and two capitals remain [1]. These capitals burst from an ornate collar [1]. This seems to be the first example of two architectural orders, Doric and Ionic, co-existing in a single building [1]. Almost nothing remains of the deep cella destined to house the statue of the goddess [1]. In late antiquity, around the eighth century, the structure was used as a church: the sanctuary was closed with walls between the columns, the walls of the cella were torn down [1].