Greek Agora, Temple of Hephaistos/ Theseion

On the Greek Agora's west edge, lies a Doric peripteral hexastyle temple of Hephaistos, also known as the Theseion. The building is well preserved Mainly because it was later transformed into a Christian church. It was designed during the first half of the 5th Century BC, perhaps under Cimon, but was built probably at the same time as the Parthenon (circa 440 BC). The Structure was built using Pentelic Marble and it has a rectangular plan with a peristasis of six on thirteen Columns. This temple incorporated a combination of Early Classical Architecture together with features borrowed from the Parthenon. While its pronaos and opisthodomos are deep, the cella is similar to that of the Parthenon. Fragments of the pediment and acroteria, attributed to Alcamenes, still remain. There were found 18 metopes on the eastern side and the ends of the long sides adjacent to it are all made of Parian Marble like the rest of the sculptural Decoration of the temple. They are all pre-Phidian in style, however the Ionic frieze of the pronaos and opisthodomos, a centauromachy, is in the Phidian style.