Kionia, Tinos: The sanctuary of Poseidon and Amphitrite

Built on Tinos, at a short distance from the sacred island of Delos, the pilgrimage to the sanctuary of Poseidon and his wife, Amphitrite, was considered essential for those who ploughed the seas.

The sanctuary was founded in the late 4th century BC, curing the reign of the royal houses of the Antigonids and the Ptolemies and was part of their building program. Festivals known as the Poseideia or Poseidonia were held in the name of the god, featuring athletic competitions, as well as theatrical performances in the ancient Theatre of Tinos, which once stood in the place of the Church of Panagia Evangelistria. During the 3rd century BC, the sanctuary achieved Panhellenic renown, but it gradually declined and was abandoned by the mid-3rd century AD.

Among the sanctuary’s principal monuments are the temple, which housed the monumental statues of Poseidon and Amphitrite by the Athenian sculptor Telesinos, the altar and the great stoa – one of the largest known in the Cyclades – stretching approximately 170 metres in length.