DIMITRA’S TEMPLE
The great significance of this find is that it is a rare example of a marble temple of which more than 50 % of the ancient building material is preserved. This, together with its early date and the site chosen for the building, provides an endless source of information about ancient architecture.
The temple gives unique information about the construction of the marble roof, the early forms of the Ionic order, and about the curves and optical corrections similar to those observable in the Parthenon, but here a century earlier.
The temple is one of the few buildings of the ancient world that are preserved so fully and it is thus a visual source of information for the wider public. The temple at Sagri greatly complements the archaeological presentation of Iria: it is better and more fully preserved, and its forms, while monumental, are the simpler forms of a "rural" region by comparison to the more "urban" architecture of Iria.
Finally, it provides evidence for the creative evolution of Ionic architecture.
The temple of Gyroulas is the sacrifice place, designed expressly for the celebration of the mysteries. Well preserved also is a phase of its Christian period, when it was converted into a basilica.