During the excavations in the ancient city of Thassos, the remains of the supposed first temple, built in the second half of the 7th century, were discovered. BC the Parian settlers in honor of the patron of the city of Thassos, Herakles. However, according to Herodotus, the cult of Hercules was established by the Phoenicians. The sanctuary consists of a simple rectangular space that has an entrance on the south side and a row of pillars outside, along the south facade. This temple was covered with a layer of sand and on top of it was built the second temple which also had an E-W orientation. To the east of the building there was an altar, with which are connected the ceramic finds dedicated to Herakles and covering the period from 620 to 55 BC. To the south is a building with polygonal archaic masonry, which dates to the middle 6th c. Pi.
Two columns placed on the axis of the building, to the right and left of a hearth, supported the roof, of which several elements survive. The simi was decorated with a frieze of mounted archers chasing hares, while the pentagonal-fronted acrokeram was decorated with representations of Bellerephon on Pegasus and the Chimaera.
The second temple was built around 500 BC and was a simple nave on a pedestal. Contemporaneous with this pavilion was a series of five halls, which integrates the polygonal building and ends north in a stoa (building with the houses - restaurant). Also contemporary with the second temple is the Club, a long and narrow building that defines the sanctuary to the west. The Club had at least seven openings on their long side. On the wall of the depth are preserved its extremely smooth uprights, which are crowned with Ionic waves.
The hypostyle hall dates back to the middle of the 4th century. BC.. A monumental ascending staircase interrupts the wall that serves as a relief of the platform and as a boundary of the space. In the center of the hall are the foundations of what is thought to have been a propylaea with a double Doric facade. The whole was completed during Roman times (3rd century AD with the Arch of Caracalla, which was located on the axis of the road that connected Heraklion with the Agora and created a monumental entrance.
Editor: Fotini Anastasopoulou