Description of the attraction
Hecatompedon is one of the oldest temples on the Acropolis of Athens. The name of the temple is related to the size of its intact (inner part of the temple) - 100 feet (32.8 m) long and 50 feet (16.4 m) wide. Hecatompedon literally means "one hundred feet". The temple was built at the beginning of the 6th century BC, during the reign of Pisistratus, on the site of the ancient Mycenaean palace (14th century BC). Hecatompedon is considered the predecessor of the Parthenon.
Hecatompedon, like many other Athenian masterpieces, was built in honor of the goddess Athena. According to legend, the Greeks revered their patroness so much that all the slaves who participated in the construction of the temple were set free.
In 480-479 BC, during the Greco-Persian wars, by order of the Persian king Xerxes, Hecatompedon was plundered and burned. To this day, only the remains of the ruins of an ancient temple have survived, and next to them you can still see the grave of the first king of Attica Kekrop.
Colossal archaeological research was carried out by the German archaeologist Wilhelm Dörpfeld (one of the most famous researchers of ancient architecture). The remains of a foundation have been discovered, namely the base of two columns of the megaron (a rectangular Greek house). During the excavations of the Acropolis, fragments of the sculptural compositions of Hecatompedon were found, depicting the subjects of ancient Greek mythology. One of the metopes depicts Hercules fighting Triton. On the second - a mythical winged creature with three human bodies and snake tails. Perhaps this is an image of the ancient Attic deity Tritopator, a symbol of the three elements - fire, water and air. The sculptures are made of soft porous limestone and have perfectly preserved their color. Today these artifacts are kept in the New Acropolis Museum.
