Yannos Kourayos will give a Brown Bag Lunch presentation on Thursday,
October 10, at 12:15 pm. His talk is entitled, “Paros and the Sanctuary of
Apollo in the Island of Despotiko: The Excavations and the Reconstruction of
the Temple and the Dining Rooms.”
The ongoing archaeological
research at the sanctuary of Apollo, which came to light twenty-two years ago
on the uninhabited island of Despotiko to the west of Paros, has significantly
transformed our understanding of the sacred landscape of the Cyclades in the
Geometric and Archaic periods. The site’s size and spatial organization set it
apart from any other Cycladic sanctuary, with the notable exception of the
sacred island of Delos. Although no epigraphic or literary testimony exists for
the Despotiko sanctuary, archaeological evidence presents rich opportunities
for understanding early Greek votive religion and material culture. The
findings suggest that the shrine was founded and controlled by the polis of
Paros. Cult activity can be traced back to the early Iron Age and peaked in the
second half of the 6th century BC, when the sacred precinct was monumentalized
and surrounded by a temenos wall. The sanctuary came to feature marble
structures, including a columnar temple, buildings for cultic meals, and a
permanent altar. Systematic study and reconstruction of these buildings led to
the initiation of an anastylosis project, which is currently in progress and
aims to restore part of the site to its original form.