Cape Sounion and the Temple of Poseidon

The Temple of Poseidon

Doric, mid-fifth century BC, built on the ruins of an earlier temple the Persians destroyed in 480 BC while it was still going up. Fifteen columns stand. It occupies the highest point of the cape inside a walled sanctuary, and it was a landmark for sailors for centuries — in Byzantine and later times the cape was called Kavokolones, the cape of columns.

What the frieze showed, and where it is

Centauromachy and Gigantomachy — the same victory-over-chaos subjects as the Parthenon, and for the same political reason. Some of the relief slabs are now in the Archaeological Museum of Lavrio, up the coast.

The myth on the cliff

Homer has Menelaus stop here on the way back from Troy to bury his helmsman. The better-known story is Aegeus, king of Athens, watching for his son Theseus's ship, seeing a black sail, and throwing himself off the cliff — which is where the Aegean gets its name. Whether the cliff in question is this one is a matter of tradition rather than evidence.

Byron's name

Cut into one of the columns, along with a great many other nineteenth-century visitors' names. It is roped off now and you cannot get close enough to read it clearly, which is probably for the best.

What the official page says

Daily from 09:30 until sunset, in both the summer and winter listings, with last admission twenty minutes before closing. That is the whole timetable — there is no clock time published for either season.

What it means in practice

In late June the sun goes down around half past eight, so last admission is about ten past eight; in December it is closer to five, so last admission is about twenty to five. Between those extremes it moves by a few minutes a week. Check the sunset time for your date rather than assuming an hour, and if you are driving yourself, arrive at least an hour before it.

And the crowd

Because everyone wants the same twenty minutes, the site fills in the last hour and empties immediately afterwards. If you have your own transport, arriving at four gives you an empty headland and light that is already low enough to be worth photographing; stay for the sunset and let the coaches arrive around you.

By organised tour

A four-hour evening trip from central Athens, timed to reach the cape before sunset and return after dark. It is the least demanding option and the one most people take. Check whether the €20 entry is included before comparing prices.

By public bus

KTEL Attikis runs coaches down the coast road to Sounion from central Athens for a few euro each way. That plus €20 at the gate is a fraction of a tour price. The catch is the return: the last bus back matters a great deal when the site closes at sunset and it is dark on the coast road.

Check the timetable before you set out and again at the stop.

By car

The coast road south through Vouliagmeni and Varkiza is one of the good drives in Attica, with the sea on your right the whole way. There is parking at the site. Allow ninety minutes and more on a summer Friday, when Athens is heading for the beaches.

Swimming

There are beaches immediately below the cape and along the road on the way down, and in summer many people build the trip around a swim and a late lunch before the temple. The site itself is a headland with no swimming access.