After 1,700 years the first ancient Greek temple opened in Arcadia, Peloponnese over the weekend. Hundreds of people attended the inauguration ceremony of the temple which was built for liturgical purposes and not as a museum.
The construction of the temple is an initiative of the doctor Manolis Heliotis, who allocated a privately owned area near the village of Kalliani for its construction. Its architecture is based on the golden ratio and includes features of ancient Greek temple architecture, such as friezes and pediments, while marble from various regions of Greece has been used.
Evangelos Bexis, the site manager and organizer of the event, told newsbomb.gr, “After 1,700 years, such a building is being built, with marble cladding on the walls and ceiling. There are tens of thousands of people in Greece and abroad who believe in their ancestral gods and do not have a place to worship. An injustice of centuries is being corrected.”
The temple is dedicated to Zeus, Dionysus, and Pan, while a statue of the latter is housed inside. The rituals that took place during the inauguration were dedicated to these gods.
Authorities, church react to the ancient Greek temple
Despite the completion of the project, reactions were not long in coming. According to Evangelos Bexis, the Ministry of Education issued a circular prohibiting the operation of the temple while a special team of the Authorities sealed the entrance, even though the Urban Planning Department had issued the necessary permits.
“We are completely legal. The church does not fall under the rules on church construction, so the sealing is invalid. We will defend our legal rights,” he states characteristically.
The Greek Orthodox Church also condemned the ancient temple. The Metropolis of Gortynia in Peloponnese issued a circular condemning the construction of the church, calling on the faithful “not to be led astray.”
Orthodox Christianity believes in one God, the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), which is incompatible with the polytheistic belief system of ancient Greece. The Ten Commandments explicitly condemn the worship of other gods, reinforcing the idea that polytheism is idolatry.
However, Evangelos Bexis responds: “We are not opponents of Christians, we are all Greeks. All we ask for is an understanding for our beliefs. We demand respect from both the Church and the State.”
Whether the temple will remain functional or whether it will face further legal obstacles remains to be seen in the near future.
Related: Greeks Return to Worshipping Gods of Ancient Greece