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| Collection: | Corinth | |
| Type: | Monument | |
| Name: | Acrocorinth Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore | |
| Description: | Excavations on the north slopes of Acrocorinth in the 1960’s and 70’s revealed a mass of small dining rooms both above and below and ancient road leading to Acrocorinth. They were arranged in parallel rows either side of a road and staircase ascending to a propylon which gave access to the area associated with the worship of Demeter and Kore. In the Classical period there was no temple, simply rooms and a large stone lined pit containing ash, pig bones and pottery. The area also contained large quantities of votives including large scale terracotta statues. The identity of the goddesses is attested by graffiti on ceramics, the kinds of terracotta figurines, models of food on offering trays and a reference to it in Pausanias. A small theater, seating no more than 100 people, was cut into bedrock on the south side. The earliest dining rooms were built in the late 6th century B.C. and the latest belonged to the Hellenistic period. In the Roman period refurbishment of the sanctuary was refurbished and the three small temples above the disused theater date soon after the middle of the 1st century A.D. The middle temple has a mosaic floor with a geometric pattern and a panel depicting two baskets flanked by snakes either side of a depiction of a pair of feet. A mosaic text identifies the benefactor as the neokoros Octavius Agathopous whose gift was made when “Chara was priestess of Neotera (Kore)” Worship at the sanctuary towards the end of the 4th century; in the 6th century the area was used as a cemetery. | |
| Site: | Acrocorinth | |
| City: | Ancient Corinth | |
| Country: | Greece | |
| References: | Drawing: 273 138 Drawing: 273 158 Images (370) Objects (415) |
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