Heraion

The Metroon, general view, from the southwest, depicting the remains at the upper right with the Terrace of the Treasuries behind; The first monumental structure was the Temple of Hera (Heraion), built at the foot of Mt Kronos. This was once considered to have been an enlargement ca. 600 BCE of an earlier small Doric building: research has shown, however, that the whole temple was completed at one time around 600 BCE. The Heraion, a narrow building with heavy proportions (18.76 x 10.00 m; 6 x 16 columns), is one of the oldest monumental temples in Greece. The lower part and the huge orthostat blocks of the cella are preserved. These are of local shelly limestone, while the upper parts of the walls were of mud-brick, supporting a wooden superstructure roofed with terracotta tiles. At the peak of both gables was a terracotta disc acroterion, one of which has been restored (diam. 2.42 m). The original wooden columns were replaced over a long period by stone Doric ones. Each of the stone columns was in the style of its own period, so that they provide overall a paradigm of the development of the Doric order. Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.groveart.com/ (accessed 11/11/2007