Sikinos
One of the smallest of the southern islands. Referred to by Solon as the epitome of unimportance, it nevertheless appears in 5th c. tribute lists and joined the Athenian Alliance in 378 B.C.
The only existing monument stands isolated on a mountain ridge high above the sea, an hour's walk SW from the modern town. The ancient town, which has not been excavated, lay above it, just below the peak of the ridge. Formerly known as the Temple of Apollo Pythios, the building is actually a tomb of the 3d c. A.D. It and a number of smaller tombs, of which only the cuttings remain, line the road leading up to the town. The plan is that of a temple distyle in antis. The order is Ionic but the capitals are Doric. A crypt underlies the cella and the steep slope of the hillside was used to provide two exposed entrances on the S side. Paved terraces surrounded the tomb on all sides. The two chambers of the crypt are barrel-vaulted, as was the cella. The ceiling of the pronaos was made of marble beams, laid flat. A sepulchral inscription was carved on the inner face of the doorway. A half statue found nearby may have come from the pediment. The original walls, solidly built of local grayish-blue marble set in mortar, are preserved up to the cornice. The vaulted roof, destroyed by earthquake, was replaced in the 17th c. by a dome supported on pointed arches when the building was in use as a church.
BIBLIOGRAPHYA. Frantz, H. A. Thompson, & J. Travlos, “The ‘Temple of Apollo Pythios’ on Sikinos,” AJA 73 (1969) 397-422PI, with earlier bibliography.
A. FRANTZ