Temple of Artemis Orthasia in Figalia

The temple of Artemis Orthasia, theprotector of young children, is located in the small valley formed at the site of Kotylo, northwest of Temple of Epicurion Apollo, on the highest peak of Mount Kolyli and at an altitude of approximately 1,230m. The temple was built during the Archaic period, along with a second dedicated to Aphrodite, probably by poor Fialists who had settled in Bases, so its construction is not particularly elaborate. As bronze mirrors, clay female busts and bones of sacrificial animals were found,reveal that both temples were in use throughout the archaic and classical era and were abandoned at the end of the 3rd centuryB.C. The temple of Artemis, as reported by the archaeologist, Olympia Vikatos, is the southernmost and the largest of the two.
It consists only of pronaos and celia and its walls are built of roughly carved stones connected with clay, while no trace of columns or sculptural decoration is preserved. It does not have the usual orientation of the ancient temples, however, it follows south-north direction, as does the temple of Epicurius Apollo, perhaps for religious reasons connected with Arkadian religious tradition. To the north of the temple is preserved a low limestone pedestal, where the cult statue was probably set up. A liberating inscription engraved on a bronze plate, found at the southeast corner of the temple, refers to the worship of Artemis Orthasia, Apollo Vassita and PanosSinoence. The church was investigated in 1902-1903 by P. Kavvadias and the then antiquity guard K. Kourouniotis, who also made the identification of the monument, based on the description of Pausanias (8.41.10).