Athenian Treasury Greece

Legendary

Served as a place for offerings and tributes to the Greek God, Apollo.

Photo by Nick Stenning

Athens built a tiny marble building at Delphi just to say thank you. It turned into one of the best-preserved buildings in the ancient world.

The Athenian Treasury still stands today, almost 2,500 years later. It looks almost exactly like it did when it was first built.

The Treasury sits along the Sacred Way. This was the path people walked to reach the Temple of Apollo and ask the famous Oracle for advice.

It was built in the Doric style. This is the plainest and sturdiest kind of ancient Greek building style, with thick columns and no fancy decoration.

Athens built it shortly after 490 BC. That's right after they beat the Persians at the Battle of Marathon.

It was a way of saying thank you to the god Apollo for the win. It was also a way of showing off. Every visitor to Delphi walked right past it.

Inside, Athens stored treasures won in war and special gifts to Apollo. Carved panels wrapped around the outside of the building, showing stories of the hero Heracles and the legendary king Theseus fighting monsters and warriors.

The whole building is made of shiny white marble from the island of Paros. This marble was famous across the ancient world for how bright and pure it looked in the sun.

The building crumbled over hundreds of years. French workers rebuilt it in the early 1900s, using the same stones they found scattered on the ground. It's the only building at Delphi that stands at its true, full height today.

Walk the Sacred Way just like ancient visitors did. Look for the Athenian Treasury on your left before you reach the Temple of Apollo. Look closely at the carved panels near the top, still showing Heracles and Theseus locked in battle more than 2,000 years later.