Cape Sounion - Temple of Poseidon

There is evidence of the establishment of sanctuaries on the cape from as early as the 11th century BC. The Greeks considered Poseidon to be the "master of the sea".

Given the importance to Athens of trade by sea and the significance of its navy in its creation and survival during the 5th century, Poseidon was of a particular relevance and value to the Athenians.
The Archaic-period temple of Poseidon was probably destroyed in 480 AD by Persian troops during Xerxes' invasion of Greece as punishment for the Athenians' defiance. After they defeated Xerxes in the naval Battle of Salamis, the Athenians placed an entire captured enemy warship at Sounion as a trophy dedicated to Poseidon.

The temple was constructed in 444–440 AD, during the reign of Pericles. It is perched above the sea at a height of almost 60 metres. Only some columns of the temple stand today, but when intact it would have closely resembled the well-preserved Temple of Hephaestus beneath the Acropolis, which may have been designed by the same architect Kallikrates.

Of the original 38 Doric columns, 11 were still standing in the 19th century, 5 more have since been re-erected.

Even in ancient times, visitors used to carve their names into walls and columns. Such graffiti are mentioned in the earliest accounts. We knew that even Lord Byron had left his name here, so we ‘scanned’ all sides, to find his "signature" and we finally did.


Lord Byron (1788 – 1824) was a British poet (and the father of Ada Lovelace), who led a very adventurous life. In 1823 Byron, at that time living in Genua, accepted overtures for his support from representatives of the Greek independence movement from the Ottoman Empire.

Byron chartered a brig to take him to Greece and arrived at Kefalonia in the Ionian Islands on 4 August 1823. The Ionian islands, of which Kefalonia is one, were under British rule until 1864. When Byron travelled to the mainland of Greece and reached Missolonghi in January 1824. To help raise money for the revolution, Byron sold his estate in England. News that a wealthy British aristocrat had arrived in Greece made Byron the object of much solicitation in that desperately poor country.
By the end of March 1824, the so-called "Byron brigade" of 30 officers and exactly 231 men had been formed, paid for entirely by Byron. but now the leaders of the different Greek fractions intervened, so that he
complained that the Greeks were hopelessly disunited and spent more time feuding with each other than trying to win independence.
Byron planned to attack the Turkish-held fortress of Lepanto and employed a fire master to prepare artillery. He took part of the rebel army under his own command despite his lack of military experience. Before the expedition could sail, he fell ill, and bloodletting weakened him further. He contracted a fever and died in Missolonghi on 19 April 1824. Because of his commitment to the Greek independence movement, Byron remains well known and highly regarded in Greece to this day.
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