The visitors of the temple of Apollo Epikourios in the Messenia region on Peloponnese will be able to use wireless internet thanks to the new initiative for installing Wi-Fi systems on archeological sites.
The Minister of Transportation and Communication Evropidis Stilianidis and the Minister of Culture Andonis Samaras announced the beginning of the project and said that this way visitors will be able get information online about the history of different monuments and Greek history and culture as a whole. The temple, which is dedicated to the God of healing, music, and sun – Apollo, is considered to be one of the most important ones in ancient times and this ensures its place in the UNESCO monuments, which belong to the World Heritage.
The Temple of Apollo Epikourios is the first almost fully preserved temple, in which all three architectural styles in ancient times are presented and mixed for the first time: the ionic, Doric, and Corinthian orders. The name of the place, where the temple is situated – Vase, means a small plain among the rocks. The temple itself is dedicated to Apollo Epikourios by the citizens of Figalia, because he saved them from hunger death. The temple was built in 420 B.C. by architect Ictinus, who is also the architect of the Parthenon and this is why he is famous as the “Peloponnesian Parthenon.” When it comes to beauty and harmony, the author of travel notes Pausanias defines it as one of the most beautiful temples on Peloponnese.
The temple was decorated with 31 meter long marble frieze, which was probably work of Peony, who is the creator of the Nike statue of Olympia. The frieze was made out of 23 marble plates, 12 out of which were depicting scenes of fights between Greeks and the Amazons. The rest 11 depicted fights between the Lapith – a Thessalian tribe and the centauries. During 1815 the frieze was sold to the British museum, where it is displayed until today.
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