Samos - Temple of Hera ("of Rhoikos and Theodoros") (38 pictures, 1 videos)

The temple of Hera is the largest Greek temple ever built (approximately 55x108 meters), which was faithfully reconstructed by Polykrates (538-522 BC) to replace the previous model (circa 570 BC) designed by the architects Rhoikos and Theodoros of Samos and destroyed by an earthquake. A single column of this colossal octastyle dipteral Ionic temple (enneastyle on the west side) still stands, in the northeast corner. A true "stone forest" stood around the deep pronaos and the huge long cella, both tripartite. A triple row of columns screened the short sides, and the capitals of the outer peristasis were in the standard volute design, while those of the inner peristasis followed the Ionic kyma model. A continuous frieze adorned the top of the walls of the pronaos and the cella. In the foundations, the bases of columns and other blocks from the previous Heraion can still be seen.