Archaeological Site of the Aeolic Sanctuary of Klopedi

A few kilometers west of the town of Agia Paraskevi lies the archaeological site of Klopedi. Excavations brought to light the remains of two cult buildings, the only examples of the Aeolic order in Lesvos and in Greece. The temple buildings, known as Temples A and B, rose on the hilltop in the 6th century BC over earlier remains. The first stands at the steepest point of the plateau to incorporate ancestral burials into its foundation. The second is imposing, particularly its external colonnade crowned with Aeolic capitals. A bronze statuette of a kouros and an inscribed plaque with the engraving [APOL]LONOS indissolubly link the sanctuary’s cult to Napaios Apollo. At Klopedi, the earliest habitation dates to the Mycenaean period. However, the first documented cult at the site begins in the 8th century BC, with a curvilinear building that housed a clay cult image.