Altar of the Twelve Gods

The Altar of the Twelve Gods (also called the Sanctuary of the Twelve Gods), was an important altar and sanctuary at Athens, located in the northwest corner of the Classical Agora.^[1] The Altar was set up by Pisistratus the Younger, (the grandson of the tyrant Pisistratus) during his archonship, in 522/1 BC. It marked the central point from which distances from Athens were measured and was a place of supplication and refuge.

The exact identities of the twelve gods to whom the Altar was dedicated is uncertain,^[2] but they were most likely substantially the same as the twelve Olympian gods represented on the east frieze of the Parthenon: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Apollo, Artemis, Hephaestus, Athena, Ares, Aphrodite, Hermes, and Dionysus,^[3] though there are reasons to suppose that Hestia may have been one of the twelve.^[4]

It was formerly thought that during the Roman period, the Altar became known as the Altar of Pity (Eleos); however that altar is now believed to have been located further east in the Roman Agora.^[5] The altar was dismantled c. 267 AD.^[6]