On the brick of the shore and surrounded by the sea stand the remains of the temple of Poseidon at the Cape of Sounio.An ideal place to honor the god of the sea since its location rises steeply above the sea with a magnificent view to the endless blue of the Aegean Sea and the wonderful sunset.The archaic period seems to be the heyday of the sanctuary where four colossal Kouroi (naked statues of men) welcomed the sailors to the Saronic and the South Euboean Gulf, three of whom are now in the National Archaeological Museum.The temple of Athena Souniada was built on adjoining lower hill during the same period.Moreover, a sintered temple of Poseidon was built during the 6^th century BC, which was destroyed by the Persians during the Persian Wars before the completion of its construction.Later in the mid-5^th century BC, during the construction of the Parthenon, the Athenians also built a marble temple of Doric order, parts of which are visible till today.It was probably the work of the same architect of the temple of Hephaestus in Thissio, it had 6 columns on the short sides and 13 lengthwise and its dimensions were 31.12 x 13.47 m.Also, it had a frieze with an embossed decoration made of local marble (from the area of Agrileza).Nowadays, the two pilasters in the eastern side and several of the columns in the temple's eastern section have been preserved, while the western part has been razed to the ground.The decline of the temple started as early as the 1^st century BC, still many were the travelers that visited it.Some of them engraved their name on the marbles, among which is detected the name of Lord Byron.The visit to the region is always interesting and especially during afternoon hours in order to see the temple standing among the myriad colors of the sunset.
Opening Hours: 09:30 till sunset.