Stoa of Zeus

The Stoa of Zeus at Athens, was a two-aisled stoa located in the northwest corner of the Ancient Agora of Athens. It was built c. 425 BC–410 BC for religious purposes in dedication to Zeus by the Eleutherios ("pertaining to freedom"): a cult founded after the Persian War. Stoas were not commonly used for religious purposes, but were typically built for promenades and meetings.^[1]

The Stoa of Zeus, the ancient Agora of Athens, Greece.

Plan of the Agora at the end of the Classical Period (ca. 300 BC); the Stoa of Zeus is number 4.

It is different from others in that it was a stoa rather than a temple (the common building used for religious purposes). Scholars believe the building also served other civic purposes due to its central location. Researchers think the structure may have been built by Mnesikles, the architect who built the Propylaia. The Propylaia was the Periclean gateway to the Acropolis.^[2] In the late first century BC a two-room annex was added, possibly for the cult of the Roman imperial family. The building in all was 43.56 meters by 10.73 meters.^[3]

References

1. Curl, James Stevens; Susan Wilson (2015). The Oxford dictionary of architecture (Third ed.). New York. ISBN 978-0-19-967498-5. OCLC 907380369.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
2. McCredie, James (2013). Robert B. Koehl (ed.). The Career of Mneikles. Philadelphia, PA: INSTAP Academic Press. p. 379. ISBN 978-1-62303-313-2. OCLC 875686069.
3. Hayashida, Yoshinobu (1999). "The Design of the Stoa of Zeus in Athens". Journal of Architecture and Planning (Transactions of AIJ). 64 (523): 293–300. doi:10.3130/aija.64.293_3. ISSN 1340-4210.

Bibliography

• Thompson, H. A. (1937). "Buildings on the West Side of the Agora". Hesperia. 6: 1–226.
• Thompson, H.A. (1966). "The Annex to the Stoa of Zeus Eleutherios in the Athenian Agora". Hesperia. 35: 171–187.

External links

• Stoa of Zeus Eleutherios

37.9757°N 23.7221°E / 37.9757; 23.7221