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This massive temple, which was built to celebrate the Greek victory over Carthage at the battle of Himera (480 BCE), is located west of the main entrance. Planned as one of the largest in the Greek world, the temple was never completed & it later collapsed in an earthquake. The site was then used as a quarry during the Middle Ages to construct other buildings in town such as churches, hence, there is very little of the structure left in the rubble. The plan of this temple was quite unique, starting with the unusual column count (7 by 14). And instead of a typical free-standing colonnade, the tall columns were joined in a continuous wall by half-columns on which were mounted "telamons", giant Atlas-like figures 7.5m high which helped to support the massive superstructure.
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Western Europe
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