The Temple of Jupiter, or “Olimpeion”, was built in the first half of the sixth century BC and is considered the oldest temple of the entire Greek civilization in Italy.
It is located 3 km from the city centre ofi Syracuse, near the Ciane and Anapo rivers, on a hill where in ancient times there was the suburban district “Proisteion” or better known as “Polichne”, here probably landed Archia (founder of Syracuse) with the Corinthians in 734 BC.
From the excavations carried out over time, we know that the temple (20.50 meters x 60 meters) showed a peripteral structure (columns positioned around a cell used to house statues of divinities), on the longer sides had two rows of 17 columns while on the shorter sides had two rows of 6 columns all about 8 meters high.
From the stories of Diodorus Siculus we know that inside this “tenella cella” there was a large statue dedicated to Jupiter “Eleuterion” which means “liberator”, which was wrapped in a golden cloak, donated by Hieron I ° (tyrant of Syracuse from 478 or 477 BC until his death).
Diodoro Siculo(Sicilian historian, or inhabitant of the Greek poleis in Sicily) also reports that in 492 BC Hippocrates (tyrant of Gela) after defeating the Syracusans on the river Eloro, camped near the Olimpeion, where he caught some Syracusans in the act of taking possession of the famous golden cloak, but certainly was simply an attempt to hide it from him, he wrote about the dress as follows:
“to produce which he had committed a great deal of gold. And after he had taken them up again harshly as purgers of the temple, he ordered them to return to the city, but Hippocrates personally did not touch the votive offerings…”.
However, the fact remains that the dress was taken away from the statue, but it was the tyrant of Syracuse Dionysius I who took possession of it in the fourth century BC, replacing it with a cloak of wool and justifying himself with the words “Jupiter will feel less cold”.
Over the centuries, this temple suffered many plundering, which is why, the fact that it has always been a favorite destination for besiegers of the city of Syracuse, we know that here camped, at different times, Romans, Carthaginians and Athenians.
Today, due to the numerous plundering, what remains of the ancient Temple, are only 2 columns located to the south-east, which is why what was once the Temple of Jupiter is now called by Syracuse “Temple of the two columns”.
During the eighteenth century the Temple of Jupiter was a source of inspiration for many artists, travelers and writers:
In 1767 Johann Hermann von Riedesel (German minister and traveller) wrote of the Temple in the “Journey to Sicily” as follows:
“On the bank of the Anapo river, which flows into the main port, there are two large columns that are still in place, and three that are overturned, all five of the ancient Doric order. They are leftovers from the famous temple of Olympic Jupiter where the Athenians withdrew after the great destruction they had from the Syracusans.
In 1777 the French painter Jean-Pierre Louis Laurent Houël (as well as the famous traveller of the long journey to continental Europe “Grand Tour”) wrote in one of his books of the Temple in the “Voyage pittoresque des isles de Sicile, de Malte et de Lipari” as follows:
“…The owners of the field where the ruins of the temple of Jupiter are, have completely destroyed both the columns and the capitals that lay overturned on the ground: they have crushed and taken them to erect huts and to plough the ground more easily. They preferred the small benefit of a few handfuls of ears of corn to the conservation of these ancient ruins for which they have no respect.
Location: Via Elorina – SS 115- Siracusa
Contacts.: +39 0931 489511
UNFORTUNATELY THE TEMPLE OF GIOVE IS NOT ACCESSIBLE, BUT IT IS POSSIBLE TO ADMIRE IT FROM THE EXTERNAL FENCE.
