ATHENS – The remains of a temple-shaped building that could be the sanctuary of Poseidon were found in the first excavation period of a five-year research program (years 2022-2026), at Kleidi, Samikos, on the west coast of the Peloponnese.

During the excavation work completed at the end of September, part of the foundation of a large building, 9.40 meters wide, the walls of which are 0.80 meters wide, was revealed. The elongated temple-shaped building probably belonged to the sanctuary of Poseidon and may even be identified as the temple of the god.

Combined with the laconic-type tiling at the site, the discovery of part of a marble water basin (perrirhanterion) leads archaeologists to tentatively date the building to the Archaic period.

The aim of the five-year research program is to investigate the topography of the area and identify the sanctuary of Poseidon and the port of Samiko. It is a collaboration between the Ephorate of Antiquities of Ilia headed by Dr. Erofili Kollia and the Austrian Archaeological Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences headed by Dr. Birgitta Eder.