The ekklesiasterion was the building in which the meetings of the ekklesia (the people's assembly) were housed and it was close to the sacred complex of the Chthonic deities (also known as 'Earth deities').
The presence of this monument conveys a public character to the area surrounding it, at least from its construction which took place between the end of the 4th and the 3rd centuries B.C.
The building, which had the same function in Roman times when it was called comitium, could hold 3000 people and is semicircular in shape with prolonged extremities.


Panoramic and historic view - Require Quicktime - By COMHERA
Commands: click left + mouse = move; CTRL = zoom-; Shift = zoom+; click = Historic view

A square was erected on the ruins of the building (abandoned between the 2nd and the 1st centuries B.C.) and a small temple with stuccoed walls, the so-called Oratorium of Phalaris, was built at its western extremity
. This temple was erected upon a podium preceded by a small stairway and it had four Ionian columns on the façade, which sustained Doric style decorations. During Medieval times, the temple was converted into a chapel or oratorium.

Panoramic and historic view - Require Quicktime - By COMHERA

Commands: click left + mouse = move; CTRL = zoom-; Shift = zoom+; click = Historic view