The Treasury of the Sikyonians and Siphnians

The Treasury of the Sikyonians and Siphnians. ΘHΣAYPOI ΣIKYΩNIΩN KAI ΣIΦNIΩN. The texts on this marker are written in Greek (left), English (center) and French (right). Only the English text has been transcribed. To read the Greek and French texts, enlarge the marker image by clicking on it. , English: , The Treasury of the Sikyonians (1): Treasuries were small, temple-shaped buildings dedicated by the Greek city-states and their colonies at sanctuaries. They often housed precious votives of the cities that had dedicated them. The Sikyonian Treasury was built around 500 B.C. It was of porous stone, in the Doric order with two columns on its façade between side walls. The treasury's foundations were constructed like a rampart with an initial height of over 3 meters. Porous architectural members belonging to two earlier buildings were an important find during excavation of the treasury's foundations. , One of these buildings is dated to around 580 B.C. and would have been circular in plan (a tholos). The second, dated to 560 B.C. was rectangular in plan with surrounding columns (a monopteros). Five relief metopes displaying mythological subjects, a superb example of 6th c. B.C. sculpture, belonged to the latter building. Today these are on display in the Archaeological Museum of Delphi. It is thought that his building was erected to house the chariot of the tyrant of Sikyon, Kleisthenes, who had been victorious in the first Pythian Games in 582 B.C. , The Treasury of the Siphnians (2): This treasury adjoins the Sikyonian Treasury on its west. It was a small building, the offering of the inhabitants of Siphnos around 525 B.C. According to the historian Herodotus (5th c. B.C.) and the traveller Pausanias (2nd c. A.D.), the treasury was built with the dekate, i.e. one-tenth of the income from the exploitation of Siphnos' gold and silver mines. Apart from its foundations, it was built entirely of shining, transparent marble and stood out for its richness and elegance in the sanctuary of Apollo. Its façade is distinguished for its exceptional ornamental richness. Two Korai, set between parastades (i.e, the ends of the side walls on the western façade, supported the weight of its lavish decorated entablature. The frieze with its masterful scenes surrounded the entire structure to a length of about 30 meters. The greater part of this frieze is preserved and is on exhibit in the Museum of Delphi. , After the Siphnian Treasury, we come to a large turn, the so-called "Crossroads of the Treasuries", which is surrounded by the treasuries of many Greek cities. All of these, including the treasuries of the Boeotians, the Megaarians and the Thebans, date to the late 6th and early 5th c. B.C.