Resti del Tempio Greco (San Domenico Maggiore)

Beneath the church and cloister of San Domenico Maggiore lie the foundations of an archaic temple from the acropolis of Greek Taras. Dry-laid blocks of local carparo survive beneath later buildings, including the monumental eighteenth-century staircase.

Why it matters

The remains reveal how the ancient sanctuary became part of a much later urban fabric. The church, Dominican convent and staircase stand above a temple whose foundations include sections of the peristasis and cella wall. Archaeological work has identified it as one of two major archaic temples on Taranto's acropolis, while the deity worshipped there remains unknown.

What to notice

The western wall runs for about twelve metres along a bank of rock, its squared carparo blocks laid without mortar. In the cloister's northern aisle, temple foundations rise more than five metres; the cella perimeter and two large orthostats remain visible in their original position on the church's south wall. Their scale and placement make clear that this was a substantial sanctuary, even though its superstructure has not survived.

Context and history

The temple dates to the sixth century BC, with a renovation in the fifth century BC. Two inscribed architrave fragments, reused in the convent's fourteenth-century façade, point to activity in the sanctuary area during the Roman period. The Byzantine monastery of San Pietro Imperiale preceded the Angevin church and convent, which took shape in the fourteenth century. After religious orders were suppressed in 1806–09, the complex was used as a cavalry barracks. Excavations from 1989 to 1994 exposed archaeological layers extending from prehistoric occupation to the archaic sanctuary.