Sanctuary of Orthia Artemis

In Sparta, the Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia stood as one of the city-state's most important religious sites, devoted in Classical times to Artemis and rooted in the Archaic era. Over many centuries it was destroyed and rebuilt again and again, its life stretching through Classical, Hellenistic, Roman and late antique periods. Worship here continued into the fourth century CE, until all non-Christian rites were banned under the late Roman persecution of pagans. To walk this ground is to trace the long endurance of Spartan devotion.