The Doric Temple in Shtyllas near Apollonia (Albania). Architecture - archaeological re-examination - conservation - visualisation

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The city of Apollonia, a colony of Corinth and Kerkyra, possessed a number of larger temples at least since the end of the 6th c. BC. This included the building that will be investigated as part of this project. The remains of this temple are located in a highly visible area above the harbor of Apollonia in an extra-urban sanctuary. Although one column has survived in an upright position to the present day, the structure has only been cursorily studied. No record of the column has been made, and not even the ground plan of the temple has been reconstructed. In 2021, three sondages were made in the area of the temple, which led to astonishing results. From the foundation substructure are still widely preserved parts, which are joined from conglomerate stones. Parts of the crepis are also preserved and overall the high quality of workmanship of the stones is surprising. Under the remaining column, the stylobate is still preserved, but here, for earlier safety reasons, it was encased in concrete. From the sondages the following dimensions result at first: with about 19.20 m x ca. 43.20 m a column ratio of 6 x 13 columns results in the area of the peristasis. The long unexplained position of the upright column was also determined. It forms the second column of the western northeast corner. In addition, finds in the sondages provided the first evidence of the roof of the temple. Besides the edge of the roof made of marble, tiles of Corinthian type were used, which were repaired several times in the course of time. Complementary to the three sondages made so far, two further sondages are planned to clarify the exact length of the building, the depth of the pronaos, and the rearward division behind the cella. Following initial indications of interior columns, the goal is to precisely locate foundations of interior columns in the cella. The building survey as well as the documentation and analysis of finds of all types should also provide information on the chronology of the construction and the duration of cult activities. The access situation should also be clarified. The results of the first field campaign so far show that with the temple of Shtyllas a building of the 5th c. B.C. can be recorded, whose design suggests a proximity to large temple buildings in Attica and the Peloponnes. The aim of further work is the critical classification of the temple building within the architectural history. This would be the first time that one of Apollonia's temple buildings has been scientifically researched, and the results could form an important reference point for the classification of the city's other, hitherto almost unexplored monumental buildings from that period which were, most probably, well known in the wider region of the Adriatic Sea. The research project is part of a larger undertaking that includes both scientific research and the urgent conservation of the preserved column and a new presentation in the Apollonia Archaeological Park.