page_title: Brauron
section_title: Π-shaped stoa
hierarchical_section_title: Brauron / Archaeology of the sanctuary / Π-shaped stoa
caption_attribution_description: Π-shaped stoa and Classical Bridge, Brauron
context_page_description: Brauron was one of the twelve cities of ancient Attica, but never mentioned as a deme, though it continued to exist down to the latest times. It was situated on or near the eastern coast of Attica, between Steiria and Halae Araphenides, near the river Erasinus. Brauron is celebrated on account of the worship of Artemis Brauronia, in whose honour a festival was celebrated in this place.
  The sanctuary of Artemis at Brauron is an early sacred site on the eastern coast of Attica near the Aegean Sea in a small inlet. The inlet has silted up since ancient times, pushing the current shoreline farther from the site. A nearby hill, c. 24 m high and 220 m to the southeast, was inhabited during the Neolithic era, c. 2000 BCE, and flourished particularly from Middle Helladic to early Mycenaean times as a fortified site. Occupation ceased in the LHIIIb period, and the acropolis was never significantly resettled after this time. This gap in the occupation of the site lasted from LHIIIb until the 8th century BCE. Brauron was one of the twelve ancient settlements of Attica prior to the synoikismos of Theseus, who unified them with Athens.
context_section_description: The Doric stoa wrapped around three sides of a central courtyard (20 by 27 m) and faced south toward the temple of Artemis. The foundations extend along the west wing for 38 m, the north wing for 48 m, and the east wing for 63 m. Only the north colonnade of the stoa (11 columns) and one column of each of the two wings were completed. Behind the colonnade, there was a passageway containing many votive stelae (some with votive statues of children at top) and doorways into nine roughly square rooms (c. 5.5 by 5.5 m) on the north and west sides of the structure.
  These doorways were off-center relative to the rooms, each of which had raised platforms extending from all sides. On these platforms are many cuttings (some still containing lead) designed to hold dining couches — eleven couches for each dining room. Some of the rooms preserve small stone tables situated in front of the location of the couches. These structures are among the most paradigmatic examples of Greek dining rooms known. The walls of these rooms were constructed of a single course of massive limestone ashlar blocks that have no cuttings on their upper surfaces. The walls were thus completed in mud brick to the level of the roof. On the western side of the stoa there was an entrance with wheel ruts worn into the stone floor and in line with the Classical bridge.
  The stoa was built of local limestone covered in marble stucco, except for the Doric capitals, the metopes, the lintels, and the thresholds, which were produced from marble. A highly atypical feature of this design was the use of two triglyphs in the inter-columnar interval as opposed to the typical single triglyph. This was done to lower the total height of the entablature while allowing the metopes to remain square in form. In addition, the returning angles of the frieze demanded the architectural accommodation of corner expansion (as opposed to the corner contraction seen on many temples) to harmonize the intervals of the triglyphs, which could not be placed dead center over the corner column.
  Immediately north of the stoa and sharing a common wall was a structure of unknown function with elaborate entrances on both west and east sides. On its long axis it measured 48m (equivalent to the stoa) and was c. 11 m wide. Along the northern wall of this structure there was a series of slotted bases for narrow (perhaps wooden) planks; these planks are hypothesized to have held the garments dedicated to Iphegenia, as discussed by Euripides.
caption: Π-shaped stoa
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