Dodona is an oracle located in province Epirus on the northwest Greece. Herodotus brings us the legend of the founding of Dodona. Two black doves flew from Thebes in Egypt, one landed in Libya and the other in Dodona on an old oak tree. The bird told to the habitants in human language that an oracle dedicated to the god Zeus should be built in that place.

Zeus Sanctuary

Here you can see the remains of the sanctuary dedicated to Zeus and the sacred oak tree wich with the help of which the prophet Selius foretold the future to mortals. The prophet foretold the future to mortals with the help of the sounds produced by the leaves of the oak and based on the flight of the black birds that lived on the oak. By the birds and leaves, Zeus himself spoke, while the prophet interpreted Zeus’ words. One of the mortals who came here was Odysseus. He asked the prophet whether he should return to Ithaca secretly or publicly. When Jason, together with his fellow Argonauts, went to Colchis to get the Golden Rune, a goddess installed in their ship Argo a piece of oak, which could speak and prophesy.

Reconstruction of the sanctuary of Zeus.

Dione Sanctuary

Next to the sanctuary of Zeus, there is the sanctuary of Dione. In this way, two oracles existed side by side in Dodona. There were three prophetesses of Dione’s sanctuary named Promenaeus, Timraneus, and Nikrand. The symbol of the Dodonian prophetess was a bird.

Bulleterion and Prytaneon

In addition to the sanctuary, sacred buildings were also found. This here is the assembly or the Bulleterion. It was the headquarters of the Epirus allience (342-233) and the Epirus League (233-167 BC). In the room, the places where the members of the council sat, as well as the place where the councilors gave their speeches, have been preserved. Dodona was destroyed twice, the first time in 219 BC, when it was captured and destroyed in a surprise attack by the army of the Aetolian alliance, while the Romans captured and burned it in 168 BC.

Opposite the Bulleterion is the Prytaneon, the administrative building of the high officials of the league, elected by the Bulleterion. League officials lived and worked here.

Theatre

The ancient theater was built in the 4th century BC during the reign of King Pyrrhus. The theater consists of an auditorium (the ancient term kavea), a semicircular orchestra where performances were performed and…..

….screen which served as the background of the scene and a place where the actors changed. The Romans remodeled the theater, by separating the orchestra from the auditorium, in order to organize gladiatorial fights in the theater. Next to the screen, they added a room where the animals were housed.

King Pyrrhus also built a stadium, which was used for competitions in games called Naja games. Those games were held in honor of the god Zeus every four years. Naked athletes competed in the stadium, while theatrical performances were held in the theater at the same time. At the end of the 3rd century, the Naia Games were transformed into Panhellenic competitions and reached the level of the Olympic and Pythian Games, and were retained even after the Roman conquest in 168 BC. The stadium was 200 m long and had 21-22 rows of seats.

Early Christian Basilica

And finally with the arrival of Christianity, an early Christian basilica was built. As time passed, Didona changed her character. Originally, it was exclusively an oracle, and later it acquired a secular character with the construction of the Buleterion, the Prytaneon, the theater and the stadium. In the late Roman period, it became one of the Christian centres.

The cross is outlined on the stone.