South Stoa I (Athens)

The stoa stretched along most of the southern edge of the Classical Agora, facing north onto it.

[4] It consisted of a two-aisled colonnade facing north and a set of fifteen rooms running along the back wall.

[3] Pottery found under the floor level indicates a date of construction in the late fifth century BC.

The close spacing of this colonnade may have been necessitated by a lack of good stone for the epistyle.

All the columns were unfluted and made of poros, but covered in white stucco to give the appearance of marble.

[3] Some of the rooms contained rectangular areas paved with rock or reused roof tiles.

The doorways are located off-centre, which allowed dining couches to be laid around all four sides of the room.

[3][1] All the doorways have a drainage channel running through the centre of the threshold, which is also typical of dining rooms.

[1] Room I and X had small hearths in the centre, made from a wine jar placed upside down in the floor.

This is suggested by a staircase, built in the narrow vestibule at the middle of the stoa, some time after construction of the building, which led up to the level of the road behind the stoa, but seems to have been laid out in order to leave space for access to a second story.

The main evidence that South Stoa I was used in this way is an inscription found embedded in the floor of Room III (Ag.

[5][8][3][1] Several groups of Athenian officials, including the metronomoi consisted of boards of six men and a secretary, which would have fitted perfectly in the dining rooms.

C114) for a votive was found in the area of Rooms IV and V. It was apparently dedicated to an anonymous "Hero".

[10][1] The remains of the stoa were uncovered during the American School of Classical Studies' excavations of the Agora.