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Isthmia 56 pictures 2 minutes HQ video Built between the end of the 8^th and the early 7^th centuries B.C., it was embellished and renovated several times until Justinian dismantled it to scavenge building materials for a fortress on the walls of the Isthmus built by the Peloponnesians during the Persian Wars. The sanctuary of Poseidon and the temple were originally built in the 7^th century B.C. This temple was burnt in 390 B.C. during the Corithian war. On the rebuilding of the city in 44 B.C., the temple, along with other structures in its precinct, was repaired. In the time of the Emperor Justinian much of the material was robbed to be used in the construction of the wall across the Isthmus. Stadium All that has survived of the Classical stadium is a section of the triangular starting-point of the race track, paved with poros stone slabs. The later stadium (used during the Hellenistic and Roman periods) was situated at a small distance south of the sanctuary, at the foot of hillock named Rachi; a natural hollow made this spot eminently suitable for a stadium. The length of the race-track at Isthmia was 181.15 meters. The games held at Isthmia were originally of a local character. Temple of Poseidon The remains of the first temple of Poseidon have been dated as belonging to the 7^th century B.C. The foundations of an elongated altar were discovered east of the temple. This second temple was burnt during the Corinthian War (390 B.C.), when Agesilaus fought in the area against the Corinthians and their Argive allies, and also against the Athenians under Iphicrates. The temple was restored based on the same architectural plan, and survived till the final destruction of Corinth in 146 B.C. When the reconstruction of Corinth began in 44 B.C., the various structures of the sanctuary of Isthmia were also renovated. The temple was rebuilt with the same dimensions of the cella, but it probably became an amphiprostyle temple, without outer rows of columns. Theater Only a few vestiges have remained of the Roman stage structure, the side entrance, which were apparently roofed with barrel vaults and the front seats in the cavea. It is believed that efforts were made to enlarge the cavea during Nero's visit in 67 A.D., by building piers as supports under the rows of seats, as was the custom in Roman times. Roman Baths This complex is covered with black and white mosaics. Back to Greece Index