The Altar of Hera Akraia at Perachora

THE triglyph altar to the east of the sixth-century temple of Hera Akraia was only cursorily published in the first volume of Perachora (pp. 89-91; pls. 6 and I30). No real discussion was offered of the columns, apparently Ionic, placed carefully around it, which R. Martin considers, not unreasonably, evidence for a sort of baldacchino, surely one of the earliest known (see note below). I was lately asked to study altar and columns in more detail, and visited Perachora in March 1965 for the purpose. I concluded that the altar had no ritual connexion with the stoa to the east of it, but was a typical archaic temple-altar, its length (pace Perachora i. 89, which makes it but 5 metres long) originally comparable to the width of the temple. So it could be restored as about 8 metres long, or, including the columnar surround, about Io metres. The pair of columns on its north side are nearly aligned with the temple's north wall, and it is possible, with four columns spaced at comparable intervals on the west side, to obtain an alignment nearly as close between its south side and the temple's south wall. Moreover, one thus obtains a central intercolumniation opposite the centre of the temple's east side. So the columns, widely spaced as they were, offered no hindrance to the view of sacrifices at the altar from the temple's east door. The spacing of the columns can be accurately determined, because the southernmost surviving pair is aligned on the triglyphs of the altar (Perachora, pl. 130 is a little too accurate, and rather misleading here). Having discussed all this with the Director of the School, who gave great help and encouragement, I had to leave for Turkey. Back in Cambridge, a few weeks later, I received a covering letter from him with a brief article by M. Salviat, who had independently reached my main conclusions on the original size and design of altar and colonnade. (For the relation between altar, temple, and colonnade, see especially our FIG. I.) It seems best to print the bulk of this as it stands, as it formulates so cogently the arguments to which I was moving myself. I shall merely add a few remarks on the style of altar and colonnade and on their possible dates.