Thermos - 2018

Thermos. I. Papapostolou (ASA) reports on continued excavation behind the E stoa where remains of the retaining walls of the platform were rediscovered. Remains of a fountain discovered during the old excavations outside the wall were also cleaned.

More significant was the investigation in the S part of the Sanctuary of Apollo, where remains were found of the 180-m long south stoa, which ran from the SW gate and almost reached the E stoa (Fig. 2). Visible from the old excavations were the base (krepidoma) of the 3 steps of the E narrow side, the W wall, the back wall, preserved to some height, with 21 pillars (Fig. 3)and the N wall of the façade. In 2018, in the E part of the stoa, were uncovered foundations of 10 columns of the internal colonnade and part of the surface of the N and S walls. At the edge of the E narrow side the platform continued to the S and N sides and on the upper step of the façade were found 4 different column drums, placed on an upper, more recent level. Their location in Antiquity is uncertain, although the excavator considers that they probably belonged to the stoa. The W narrow side of the stoa was composed of substantial stone resembling those of fortified buildings (Fig. 4).