Placing Greek Temples: An Archaeoastronomical Study of the Orientation of Ancient Greek Religious Structures

This paper re-visits the generally accepted view that the normal orientation of ancient Greek temples is towards the east, through a general analysis of 107 Greek temple orientations collected by the author. The paper also attempts to establish whether there existed a general principle that related to specific astronomical observations and could have determined the orientation of Greek temples. The analysis applies archaeoastronomical methodology in investigating orientation patterns of Greek temples from the Geometric to the Hellenistic periods in Greece. These first results show that the sun does not seem to have played as a decisive role in the orientation of temples as currently thought. Instead, there appears to be a much larger variation than accounted for at present that cannot be simply explained by the concept of the predominance of eastern orientations. It is concluded that all-encompassing interpretations do not appear to apply in Greek religion and cult practices, and that the study of Greek cult needs to account for local variations, traditions and landscapes.