Altar of the Chians

[1] It was built after the reconstruction of the Temple in the 330s, replacing an older altar dated to the time of the Alcmaeonids.

The 4th century altar was dedicated by the people of Chios, as related on an inscription on the left side of its crowning.

The altar consists of a nucleus made of limestone and bearing a revetment with slabs of bluish marble.

Spiral decorative elements flank the upper part of the altar, which is also crowned by a cymatium.

According to recent scholarship,[2] the monument dates to the 3rd century B.C., possibly after 246/245, when the island of Chios became a member of the Amphictyony.