5. SMALL TEMPLE
The temple of the Parthenos was erected atop a rocky spur in the north-western part of the section within the interior wall, on a paved road that led to the Prytaneion and on to the Theatre. Known to research since the 1980s, it has come to be known as the “Small Temple”.
The structure consists of a pronaos (also known as the prodromos) and the sanctuary (the sekos). Current research holds that in its initial phase, it was a single-chambered temple (oikos) to which the pronaos was added at a later date. It small dimensions, simple orthogonal floor plan consisting of a pronaos and sekos, and lack of peristyle colonnades are all hallmarks of the majority of Hellenistic temples in Epirus.
Movable finds brought to light through excavations here include votive offerings left by the faithful, clay vessels and other everyday items, as well as a host of coins, a veritable treasure trove of information regarding both religious practices and the lifetime of the temple, which appears to have been in use up to the late 1st c. B.C., long after the Roman conquest.
Among the most crucial of these finds are two votive offerings discovered in the pronaos, which allowed the confirmation that the deity to which the temple was dedicated was the Parthenos: the first is a female figurine, carved out of white limestone and missing its head. According to the inscription on its base, Phila or Philo dedicated it to the Parthenos after a dream she experienced. The second find that refers to the Parthenos is a copper tablet with an inscription date to the 1st c. B.C. It is fragmentary and is preserved in seven verses. According to the most recent reading, Sotericha dedicates her grandson Nikomachos to the Parthenos who is worshipped at Gitana. Another important aspect of this inscription is that it provides further testimony regarding the plural name of the city.
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