8 min read
The House of the Six Maidens
An asymmetrical temple for two gods, a king, and a sacred olive tree
If the larger temple is geometry, this one is grammar. Built on uneven ground over a tangle of older shrines, it bends and steps and turns — and on its southern porch, six marble women stand in for columns and bear the roof on their heads.
Why it is shaped this way
The temple had to honour two gods, contain the salt spring of the sea god, the trident marks in the rock, the tomb of an early king, and the sacred olive tree of the city's patron — all without disturbing any of them. The result is a building that looks like three buildings politely meeting.
The Maidens' Porch
The six standing figures are caryatids — load-bearing women in long pleated robes. Five of the originals are sheltered in the museum below; one travelled to London in 1801 and has not yet returned. Those on the building today are exact replicas, carved from the same marble.
Look for the olive tree
A descendant of the original sacred tree grows beside the western wall. It is younger than the temple by some two thousand years, and yet, in the right light, it makes the stones make sense.