Artemision

The Temple of Artemis on the island of Ortygia in Syracuse is the only known Ionic temple in Sicily dating from the sixth century B.C. An archaic sanctuary of Athena originally stood on the site, and its foundations now lie beneath the city's town hall. Excavations in the 1960s uncovered fragments of Ionic columns that are stylistically comparable to those of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. The structure was 59 meters long and 25 meters wide, with columns reaching a height of 12.5 meters. Because no roof elements have been found, the temple is considered unfinished; construction was halted around 480 B.C. in favor of a new Doric victory temple for Athena. The building materials of the Ionic structure were probably dismantled and reused for the new construction, but the temple's appearance endured until the first century B.C.