Temple of Juno Lacinia (Crotone)

The site lies on a promontory formerly called Lacinion in a strategic position along the coastal routes linking Taranto to the Strait of Messina.

[1] These finds from the first cult area were below "Building B" which dates from the early 6th century BC as testified by the rich votive offerings including masterpieces in gold, silver and bronze.

The via sacra (great processional way), 60 m long and over 8 m wide, was created in the 4th century BC after which two vast public buildings for pilgrims were built.

[3] The federal treasury of the Italiote League, which brought together all the Greeks of the West, was moved there in the 5th century BC, and remained there until relocated to Herakleia near Tarentum.

Hannibal obeyed the warning; he had a small statue of a heifer, sacred to Juno, cast from the drill shavings and mounted it on top of the column.

Between the late republican and imperial ages, restoration was probably done at least on the roof of the temple with marble elements (e.g. the sima with lion's head) and over the area of the sanctuary are tiles stamped with the name of Q. Laronius, Agrippa's legate who was rewarded with the consulate in 33 BC.

Its proportions, the several renovations it underwent in a short period and its proximity to the later temple show its considerable importance as the first place of worship in the sanctuary.

The splendid bronze ornaments (a Siren, a Sphinx and a Gorgon) were made under the influence of the great bronze-working schools of Greece.

There is evidence of trade with the Lucanian interior and the routes to Campania, Latium and Etruria which brought objects from other regions such as the unique nuragic boat.

The square base at the centre of the building was placed in a slightly eccentric position to respect a previous sacred structure represented by three Doric column discs.

The discovery of furnishings typical of rooms dedicated to meals implies that this was the banqueting or canteen and refreshment building for important travellers as well as priests.

The term "sacred banquets" refers to collective ritual meals, an aspect of worship widely practiced in the Greek Geometric and Archaic Ages.

The use of the hestiatioron and the forms of participation in the ritual banquet changed in the Hellenistic age with the shift of the centres of power, from the city-states to the kingdoms: the monarchies no longer needed the consolidation and periodic affirmation of the city's identity in the sanctuaries.

[19] Along the north side of the Sacred Way is the katagogion, a hotel for privileged guests, dating from the second half of the 4th century BC, perhaps used to host delegations for meetings of the Achaean league, while their servants had to settle for much less refined buildings.

[20] Some decorative terracottas and a dedicatory inscription to Hera of the 6th century BC, in private possession at Crotone, were described in Notizie degli scavi 1876.