Hypaethral

Philae, Trajan's Kiosk, Aswan, Egypt, Oct 2004

The Hypaethral Temple of Philae, a romantic depiction by David Roberts painted in 1838

Hypaethral is an ancient temple with no roof. (From the Latin hypaethrus, from Ancient Greek ὕπαιθρος hupaithros ὑπό hupo- "under" and αἰθήρ aither "sky, air".) It has instead a hypaethros or hypaethral opening. It was described by the Roman architect Vitruvius in his treatise On Architecture written for the emperor Caesar Augustus probably about 15 BC. This term is in distinction from cleithral, which is covered with a roof.

Examples

• Trajan's Kiosk (shown above right) on the island of Philae near Aswan, Egypt; now located on Agilkia Island.
• The Ranipur-Jharial archeological site in Balangir District in the Indian state of Orissa.
• Temple of Apollo at Didyma, at Didim, Turkey
• Chausathi Jogini Temple, at Odisha, India

External links

• Bartleby entry
• "Opening to the Sun Above"
• Photographs of the Temple of Apollo at Didyma