| Sunium (Sounion) |
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| Cape Sunium; a promontory at the southern tip of Attica approximately 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of the city of Athens; Sunium was mentioned in The Odyssey (book 3, line 279) when Phrontis, the helmsman of Menelaos (Menelaus) was swept overboard by the god Apollon; Menelaos, with Helen and the rest of the survivors from Troy, were blown off course and they ended up in Egypt instead of the Peloponnesian Peninsula and their intended destination of Sparta. |
| The ruins of the Doric style Temple of Poseidon (lord of the Sea) still stand on the highest point of Cape Sunium; the Temple was built during the time of Pericles (circa 444 BCE) and was constructed on the foundations of a shrine that had occupied the cliff until it was destroyed by the Persians when they invaded Attica circa 490 BCE; a Temple to Athene (Athena) Sounias once occupied the isthmus but all that remains today are the foundation stones. |
| The isthmus that juts into the sea to form the Cape of Sunium rises sharply to the promontory and is bounded on the east by a narrow inlet which could serve as a shelter against bad weather for the cargo ships bound for the Saronic Gulf and the port of Athens, Piraeus; the town of Sunium was a prosperous small community until it was completely leveled during the Persian invasion of 480 BCE; the town was rebuilt and, during the Peloponnesian War, was fortified with a double wall with towers; the fortifications later fell into ruin and became a refuge for pirates and runaway slaves; the final destruction of the town and temple of Sunium came after the area was occupied by slaves who escaped from the silver mines of Laurium (circa 100 BCE). |
Looking east at the sea and the ruins of the Temple of Poseidon.
Looking at the ruins of the Temple of Poseidon from the south; the edge of the cliff is behind us.
Climbing up to the Temple of Poseidon from the north.
A closer look at the foundation stones of the Temple of Poseidon.
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