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Post by leandros nikon on Mar 27, 2011 16:00:49 GMT -5
www.greeka.com/cyclades/naxos/naxos-excursions/portara-naxos.htmThe Portara or the “Great Door” is essentially a massive marble doorway, leading to nowhere. It lies close to the port of Naxos on the islet of Palatia which was once a hill. Around the year 530 B.C when Naxos was at its peak of glory, the then ruler, Lygdamis wanted to build the highest and most magnificent buildings in all of Greece in Naxos. He ordered for a massive temple to be built but when a war broke out between Naxos and Samos, the work stopped abruptly. After that, Lygdamis was overthrown in 506 B.C and the temple, which was supposed to be at least a hundred feet tall, was never completed. Today all that remains of that temple is the Portara. The temple was supposed to be Ionic, 59 m long and 28 m wide with a peristyle of 6x12 columns with double porticos at its end. It is believed that this temple was to be built in the honor of Apollo, the Greek God who protected music and poets. Proof of this lies in the fact that the temple faces in the direction of Delos, which is believed to be Apollo’s birthplace.
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