Oracular Functioning and Architecture of Five Ancient Apollo Temples Through Archaeoastronomy: Novel Approach and Interpretation

Abstract

Five temples of Apollo on Mainland Greece and Ancient Ionia (Asia Minor), namely Delphi, Didyma, Hierapolis, Delos and Rhodes, have been examined regarding their functioning through astronomical orientation. Recent research has shown that the rise, setting, orbit and observation of certain constellations in the celestial sphere, as well as the solar stands, can be directly related to the architecture of the temple, i.e. construction, orientation, and keeping a calendar of the most important Apollonian oracular temple at Delphi. Here this lunar-solar-stellar configuration has been applied to other significant temples of Apollo. It is shown that at Didyma, Hierapolis and Delphi, the celestial pattern, as well as the landscape, local geology and architecture are similar, but different in temples without oracular function (Delos and Rhodes). Measurements were carried out by in situ readings and by Google Map tools.