The Hiera Oikia (Temple of Zeus) with the oracular oak-tree had a rectangular structure, measuring 20.80 x 19.20 m and at least four building phases. The original nucleus consisted of a small temple with a pronaos and cella dating to the first half of the 4th c. BC.
At the beginning of the 3rd c. BC, in the reign of King Pyrrhus (297-272 BC), the ashlar precinct was replaced by a larger one with Ionic colonnades on three sides of the court and an entrance in the front; on the east side, where ...

A place of significance in the Dodoni sanctuary was reserved to the adoration of goddess Dioni, the mythological mother of goddess Aphrodite. Both Dioni and Themis were called “Naian goddesses, cohabitants and worshipped together with Zeus”. The earlier temple dedicated to Dioni was situated near the Sacred Residence to the north and made part of the central section of the sanctuary. Built in the second half of the fourth century or in the early third century BC, the temple was set on fire by the ...

Among the three most ancient temples which surrounded the holy oak of Zeus in the Dodoni sanctuary, one is sacred to Themis, wife of Zeus and daughter of Ouranos (heaven) and Gaia (earth). The other two are the Holy Residence and the temple of Dioni. The cult of Themis was widespread in the region of Epirus, presumably as continuation of the cult of the prehistoric Great Goddess; it is obvious to honour her in Dodoni, because it relates to the adoration of the Earth. The temple (Building Ζ) was identified ...

In the southernmost end of the sanctuary sacred to Zeus in Dodoni, roughly 30m westwards from the gate of the enclosure, rests the temple of Hercules, part of which lied under the Christian Basilica Β. It was built in the early third century BC, in the years of Pyrrhus, the king of Epirus, who made efforts to correlate his genos (larger family, house) with the mythical hero, particularly after his second marriage to Lanassa, daughter of Agathocles, who was the tyrant of Syracuses, and originated ...

The temple of Venus (goddess Aphrodite), centrally positioned within the Dodoni sanctuary, is situated near the temple of the goddess Themis. Its identification followed on base of the earthen figurines, that were found around the temple and on its interior. They represent a feminine figure holding with her right hand a dove in front of her breast - the dove is a symbol for the goddess Venus. On the base of certain constructional details and of the findings that were taken from its interior, the ...

South of the Bouleuterion is the Prytaneion. Between them, remains are visible of the West Gate of the old 4th century BC precinct, through which the Sacred Way passed leaded to the oracular Oak-tree. For the construction of the two buildings, the Hiera Oikia and the Prytaneion, it was necessary to move the west side of the precinct further west and to join in with the House of the Priests.
The Prytaneion comprises the original nucleus, 31.50 m wide, dating to the beginning o the 3rd century ...

This edifice is built on the south side of the hill, to the east of the Theatre. It consists of a large hall 1,260 m2 in area with a Doric colonnade (stoa) in front. Some remains of rough stone benches show that the members of the Bouleuterion (Council Champer) sat on the upper part o the slope.
The identification of this building as the Bouleuterion is confirmed by the stone altar, near the south wall, dedicated to Zeus Naios and Bouleus (Counsellor) and to Dione by Charops, the son of Machatas, ...

The ancient stadium of Dodoni lies to the southwest end of the sanctuary, adjacent to the theatre. It was built after the sanctuary was destroyed for the first time by the Aetolians in 219 BC and is immediately related to the second building phase of the theatre, since the retaining walls of the stadium seats join the propylon (porch) of the theatre, which was built in the same period. Every four years the stadium hosted the Naian games, a sport competition honouring Zeus; in the early second century ...

The summit of the small hill (alt. 35 m) is surrounded by a trapezoidal wall dating to the 2nd half of the 4th c. BC, built of isodomic masonry; it has ten rectangular towers and recesses, and the perimeter is 750 m in length and has an area of 34,000 m. This was the Acropolis of the ancient "city of Dodoneans", as it is called in an oracular inscription, where the inhabitants of the surrounding region took refuge when threatened by enemy attack. The enceinte had two main gates guarded by two towers ...