The unique Temple of Apollo in Bassae

Many years ago, I drove around the Peloponnese exploring antique sites other than the well-known remains of Corinth and Olympia. 

One of my roads led me to the Temple of Bassae, which, according to my travel guide, was the only temple of Antiquity to combine Doric, Ionian, and Corinthian styles. Relying on the signposts I drove up a narrow winding road the width of my car through a landscape that seemed untouched by time. It was a most beautiful scenery dotted with circular threshing floors used to separate the grain from the straw and husks by beating it manually. These ‘floors’ also served as dancing on festive occasions. Time had clearly come to a standstill. 

As in the middle of nowhere, the grey columns of a temple appeared with behind it a normal asphalt road… I had found Bassae the hard way but certainly the most beautiful one.

[Picture from Albion Gould]

Just the other day, I came across the picture of an odd-looking temple in Figaleia dressed in ghostly white hailed as the “second Parthenon”. Where? What? It turned out to be the Temple of Apollo Epicurius in Bassae, now heavily studded. It brought me right back to that exciting drive so long ago. What happened here? 

Well, I praise myself lucky to have been there before the series of drastic restorations started. The first works were carried out between 1902 and 1908 but did not affect the appearance of the temple. Later interventions changed the glorious view I had enjoyed forever. In 1985, an anti-seismic scaffold was installed followed by a lightning protection. Since 1987 the entire temple has been wrapped in a tent to protect the monument against extreme weather conditions. This is said to be a temporary measure but after almost forty years we may wonder if this cover will ever be removed. There is not much worth seeing right now, is there? 

The Temple of Apollo Epicurius (the Helper) of 38 x 14.5 meters was erected between 420-400 BC by the citizens of Figaleia to thank the god for delivering them from the plague of 429-427 BC. It was designed by Ictinus, who also was the architect of the Parthenon in Athens. 

The Temple in Bassae built with local grey limestone is remarkable for several reasons. Unlike the general east-west orientation of the Greek temple, this one is set north-south because of the terrain or perhaps to comply with some religious traditions of the people of Figaleia. Access to the temple would be through a door on the east side, another anomaly. And, this temple of Apollo is the only known example from antiquity to combine all three orders of ancient Greece: Doric for the outside columns, Ionian for the inside, and three Corinthian columns at the southern end. What struck me also during my visit were the Ionic columns inside the cella that were attached to the wall. Two Corinthian columns were attached at a 45-degree angle to the wall and the third one stood between them. I was deeply impressed by these exceptional architectural details. 

The temple was abandoned around the 4^th-5^th century AD. As it stood in a relatively remote area outside the city of Figaleia, it was not plundered. Eventually, the roof collapsed and severely damaged the interior of the temple. The outer colonnade remained standing and that is what I witnessed during my visit. 

The excavations were first started in 1811 by a group of European archaeologists led by Charles Cockerell after receiving permission from the local Pasha. The agreement was that the booty would be split between the Pasha and the archaeologists. After a few weeks, 23 metopes were recovered. Twelve of them depicted the Battle between Greeks and Amazons and the remaining eleven told the mythical Battle between Lapiths and Centaurs. 

When the Pasha saw the reliefs, he was very disappointed as he had expected gold and other precious artifacts. For him, the find had no value and he refused to take his share. After giving him the sum of £400, the archaeologists took the metopes to be auctioned in Zakynthos. The highest bidder was the British Museum, which paid £19,000 for the lot. That is how the entire length of the frieze (31 meters) has been fitted in a room of its own at the BM. 

During a later visit to the Museum of the Louvre in Paris, I came across two sitting Maenads from Bassae. They were clearly resting after their frenzy dances in a state of divine madness and ecstasy which was illustrated by their sweaty wet chiton clinging to their body! Only a highly skilled sculptor could render this state of mind in such a palpable way. 

There must have been a statue of Apollo inside since the sanctuary was dedicated to this god, but I have not heard about its presence. 

It sounds strange to say that I did not miss seeing any metopes or statues in or around the temple. At the time, this isolated sanctuary impressed me by its location, as the roughness of its grey limestone blended in so well with the landscape that the picture seemed complete. 

The white tent covering the temple is said to protect the building against the region's extreme weather conditions. I do not understand this reasoning for after all Apollo protected the temple against the elements for the past 2,500 years.