Location: Western slopes of the Acropolis, below the Tmolus Mountains in a broad valley opening into the ancient Pactolus River bed.
Size: Fourth largest Ionic temple in the world.
Orientation: Principal facade toward the west.
Historical Significance: The area might have been sacred to Artemis from the earliest days, evidenced by a large Archaic altar of limestone blocks at the west end of the temple.
Cella Construction: Developed between 300-175 BC, post-Alexander the Great.
Exterior Colonnade: Constructed during the Roman Imperial era, specifically in the first half of the second century AD.
Structure:
Eastern End: Better preserved due to deeper burial, with two intact columns.
West End: Entirely gone or never finished.
Dimensions: Peristyle dimensions are 44.58 m x 97.60 m, and the cella is 23.0 m x 67.52 m.
Design: Pseudodipteros (inner row of columns omitted), eight columns in front and back, twenty along the sides.
Column Spacing: Complex interaxial spacing, narrower at flanks and wider at ends.
Materials: Marble blocks with different construction techniques indicating Hellenistic and Roman phases.
Historical Use and Renovations
Initial Use: Active from ca. 300-175 BC, with no peripheral columns yet built.
Roman Imperial Cult: By the mid-second century AD, the cella was divided into two chambers for the Imperial Cult.
Later Periods: The temple was unfinished by the end of the fourth century AD, abandoned with the rise of Christianity, and a small church was erected at the southeast corner. Byzantine rebuilding and lime burning further altered the structure.
Excavations and Studies
Early Explorers:
Cyriacus of Ancona (1444): First recorded western traveler to visit the site.
Robert “Palmyra” Wood (1750): Recorded visible ruins and made the first excavation attempt.
C.C. Cockerell (1812): Made sketches of the standing columns.
Archaeological Excavations:
George Dennis (1850): Discovered a colossal head identified with Faustina the Elder.
