Lepreon

Lepreon was for Herodotos (4,145-148) the most important of a number of cities founded by refugees from Lemnos, and today the remains of ancient Lepreon are still some of the most impressive in southern Elis (Triphylia). As de facto capital of Triphylia, originally inhabited by the pre-Greek tribe, the Caucones, it fought multiple conflicts with the Eleans in order to gain independence, until the Spartans humiliated Elis to release the dependent cities. . In the Roman period, the city was moribund, only to be abandoned around 800-1000 after a series of pirate raids. On the acropolis you can still find remains of the city wall with towers from Hellenistic times, and an impressive entrance gate, and a little further on a very beautiful Doric temple, possibly the temple of Demeter mentioned by Pausanias.

 

 

Pausanias (5.5.5) about Lepreon:

The Lepreots say they had a temple in the city within the city for Zeus Leukaios and a tomb for Lykourgos son of Aleos, and also a tomb for Kaukon. On that grave would also have been a  decoration of a man with a lyre in his hands. (6) In my time, there is no longer a notable tomb and no more sanctuary for one of the gods, except one of Demeter. That too was made of roughly hewn stones and no longer had a cult image.

Prasidaki

At a distance of 4 kilometers as the crow flies, near the village of Prasidaki (just east of Jannitsochori) lie the foundations of yet another classical Doric temple, dedicated to the goddess Athena. The temple is on top of a plusm. 270 m. high hill in a very green valley north of the Neda. It dates from the beginning of the 5th century BC. (475 BC?) and probably once belonged as a “rural sanctuary” to the city of Pyrgi, which Strabo says was somewhere at the mouth of the Neda, but of which no apparent remains have yet been found. The attribution to Athena is based on excavated votive offerings dedicated to the goddess. A small Athena statue in the museum of Olympia has been found here, possibly a scaled-down copy of the cult statue. The temple once had 6 x 13 Doric columns, and also had a double column in the cella. It was probably destroyed by an earthquake in the Roman period. Unfortunately, much of the material has been looted as building material in the last hundred years, while there have also been clandestine excavations. The preserved remains make it clear that the temple looked like the temple of Skillountia like two drops of water. What is special is that the basis for the cult statue is exactly in the middle of the cella.

Cf. https://aristomenismessinios.blogspot.com/2013/09/blog-post_8142.html

The small Athena statue, a votive offering from a grateful believer, represents the goddess Athena, in her capacity as poliouchos, protector of the city. For that reason she has a helmet on her head and a long lance in her hand. She also wears a classic peplos, with the aegis around her shoulders, a magical cloak, usually held by Medusa’s head (fossilizing enemies), which serves as a brooch. In terms of composition with the strong diagonals and her harmonious shape, the goddess is reminiscent of the metopes of the great temple at Olympia. The goddess holds a small owl in her left hand, a typical Athenian element, which probably harks back to the early classical positive image of the city as champion against the Persians, which the city spread from itself around 470-460.

Source: Θ. Καράγιωργα-Σταθακοπούλου, “Μιά πελοποννησιακή Αθηνά Πολιούχος”, Πρακτικά του XII διεθνούς συνεδρίου Κλασικής Αρχαιολογίας. Αθήνα, 4-10 Σεπτ. 1983, τόμος Γ.