Temple of Athena Makistos

The Temple of Athena Makistos, west of Nea Skillountia in Elis, was a sanctuary of the goddess active across an extraordinary span, from the Archaic through Classical, Hellenistic, and Roman periods. Excavation of the Classical temple, begun in 1960 and resumed in 1978 for the Archaeological Society, continued until 1997, when clandestine diggers brought to light a cist grave at Kokkini Ekklisi. The finds, bone among them alongside temple remains, remind us that such sanctuaries were places of worship and burial both, layered with centuries of devotion.