Delos - Bouleuterion, Ekklesiastirion, Prytaneion

Delos was one of the major sacred centres of the ancient mediterranean world, but held a wider political and financial importance as well. Hence, its public edifices, especially those in the vicinity of the Temple of Apollo, were related to religious rather than to secular life.

The oblong archaic edifice that is identified as a Bouleuterion was founded in the first half of the 6th century BC. The building had a bipartite plan. The larger, southern room had two entrances and an axial row. On its outer northwest corner an ionic column bore a votive inscription to Athena, protectress of the city ("eis Athinan Poliada..."). Epigraphic evidence from the 3rd and 2nd century BC suggests that in the Bouleuterion were kept copies of the assembly's decrees.

The Ekklesiasterion was the meeting hall of the Ekklesia of Demos (assembly of citizens). It was a big building that underwent many alterations during the period from 5th to 2nd century BC. It comprised two adjacent rooms. The west one had a niche in the middle of its southern wall and marble benches running around the sides.

The Prytaneion, a rectangular edifice that housed the Prytaneis, the executive committee of the Boule, dates back to the end of the archaic or the beginning of the classical period. Its entrance is located on the south side. Apart from a patio, the building included the Prytaneion proper and the archives, both of which were provided with an individual antechamber.

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