Brauroneion

Athens Municipality, Greece

No longer standing

Demolished or destroyed.

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The Brauroneion was the sanctuary of Artemis Brauronia, goddess of childbirth and protector of women, located in the southwest corner of the Athenian Acropolis between the Chalkotheke and the Propylaea. Originally established during the reign of Peisistratos, the sanctuary had an unusual trapezoidal layout and notably lacked a formal temple, its religious functions served instead by a stoa measuring approximately 38 by 6.8 meters that stood against the southern Acropolis wall facing north. Two risalit-like side wings flanked the portico, with a second shorter stoa situated north of the eastern wing. One wing housed the original wooden cult statue (xoanon) of the goddess, where supplicants traditionally draped votive garments; in 346 BC a second marble statue by the renowned sculptor Praxiteles was erected. The sanctuary also displayed a bronze sculptural representation of the Trojan Horse, depicted with Greek heroes emerging from it. Today only foundations and scattered limestone architectural fragments remain, with the western portion destroyed and lost to time.