The Columns of Athena Temple

Captured in an all-sky image, the nearly full moon sets in the morning sky above the Athena Temple in Assos, a village in the Aegean seaside amid ancient ruins. Also known as Behramkale, it is located in Canakkale province of Turkey, close to the westernmost point of Asia. Assos was founded about 3000 years ago. The settlers built a Doric Temple to Athena on top of the crag in 530 BC. From this temple Hermias of Atarneus, a student of Plato, ruled Assos, when the city experienced its greatest prosperity. Aristotle also lived here and opened an Academy. The three bright stars of the Summer Triangle are visible on the right and Jupiter is prominent at left (over the east). As noted by the photographer “I found an interesting change since my first TWAN imaging session here 2 years ago. Back then, there were 5 standing columns of Athena Temple but during the ongoing archaeological works, a sixth column had been erected. Probably pieces of more columns are to be recovered, repaired and erected in the near future.”