ARTEMISIA TEMPLE

The temple of Artemis stands in front of you, once you have climbed the steps of the propylaeum. The Romans built it around 150, in homage to Artemis, daughter of Zeus, goddess of hunting and fertility and protective goddess of Gerasa. Much larger than the one dedicated to Zeus, the temple maintained the rivalry between the faithful. It was the center of the social and spiritual life of the city and stood at the center of a vast sacred enclosure of 3.4 hectares. Built on a platform, its beautiful columns with Corinthian capitals rise towards the sky. They present an interest which delights the tourists: they move with the wind or when one shakes them. Only 11 of the 12 columns originally erected remain. They are signed by the artist (or contractor in charge), Hygeinos. But the Temple of Artemis is unfinished, for a total of 32 columns were planned to frame the cella, the main chamber. The floor of the inner room was covered with marble slabs. The back of the temple, the adytum, was accessible only to priests. Only they could approach the thalamos, the niche that probably housed a statue of the goddess, and enter the two chambers that flanked the niche. The sacrificial altar was located at the foot of the stairs leading to the platform, some twenty meters upstream from the temple. From the 4th century onwards, pagan cults were forbidden by imperial edict and the temple of Artemis was stripped of its furnishings.