Temple of Athena (Priene)

The Temple of Athena Polias in Priene was an Ionic Order temple located northwest of Priene’s agora, inside the sanctuary complex. It was dedicated to Athena Polias, also the patron deity of Athens. It was the main temple in Priene, although there was a temple of Zeus. Built around 350 BC, its construction was sponsored by Alexander the Great during his anabasis to the Persian Empire. Its ruins sit at the foot of an escarpment of mount Mycale. It was believed to have been constructed and designed by Pytheos, who was the architect of the great Mausoleum of Halikarnassos, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was one of the Hellenistic temples that was not reconstructed by Romans.

The first record of modern discovery is Jacob Spon and George Wheler visiting in the 17th century. The next recorded of this site was in 1764-65 when Richard Chandler had his Asia Minor expedition funded by the Society of Dilettanti. The temple was surveyed and drawn a second time in the Society's 1811-12 expedition, and in their third of 1868-69, Richard Pullan excavated and surveyed the temple and the city in a more comprehensive manner. He also brought some of the finds to the...