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Modern Description: To the east, in the open area in front of the building, are the remains of the 3rd century BC Temple of Aphrodite, uncovered by Italian archaeologists in 1922. The temple—as was customary with shrines to Aphrodite who was a patron divinity of sailors—occupied a prime location between the commercial and military ports. It was perhaps the lack of space in this crowded area of Ancient Rhodes which gave rise to the unusual form of the temple— The temple design was amphipro-style in antis, with a colonnade of half-engaged columns on the interiors of the longer sides. It was designed so as not to make maximum use of the limited space available. The poor quality of the stone used meant that it would originally have been dressed with stucco. The fact that different elements from the temple and the surrounding area have been stored and erected on top of the foundations without respect to the building's original design, does not permit a clear reading of the site. The building was oriented east–west; the long sides had the engaged colonnade, and the two column stumps now placed along their length, may originally have served to support the east portico. The fragments of a heavily decorated entablature, on the ground along the north side, have been moved here from the Roman tetrapylon of Antoninus Pius (middle of the 2nd century AD) which we have seen north of the ‘House of Djem'. It is possibly from this temple that the statue of Aphrodite ‘Pudica' now in the Archaeology Museum, came.
Trismegistos Geo: 2057

Info: McGilchrist's Greek Islands

(From McGilchrist’s Greek Islands, © Nigel McGilchrist 2010, excerpted with his gracious permission. Click for the books)

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