NOTES ON THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE ROMAN TEMPLE AT ELAIUSSA SEBASTE

The Roman temple at Elaiussa Sebaste, standing on a hill south to the city, has been recently excavated and some new data concerning its architectural layout can be outlined. The transformation of the building into a Christian church and the later pillage activities have determined the loss of a great part of the original elements pertaining to the peristasis and to the cella, but, thanks to the recent researches, a new reconstruction of the elevation of the Roman building can be proposed. The temple, standing on a high podium, is entirely made from the local limestone; it is built in the Corinthian order, with 6 columns on the front and 12 on the long sides. The extant parts of the opus quadratum cella walls reveal that its plan was probably characterised by a pronaos and a deep naos. An underground chamber, contemporary to the temple, has been built inside the podium basement: the room, vaulted and square in plan, was accessible by a double flight of steps originating inside the cella and may have had ceremonial and ritual functions. The construction of the temple, which is not yet attributable with certitude to a specific deity, can be dated within the 1st century AD.