Dodona

Dodona

Δωδώνη
View of the bouleuterion in Dodona
Shown within Greece
Location	Dodoni, Ioannina, Epirus, Greece
Region	Epirus
Coordinates	39°32′47″N 20°47′16″E / 39.54639°N 20.78778°E / 39.54639; 20.78778
Type	City and sanctuary
History
Founded	Second Millennium BCE
Abandoned	391–392 CE
Periods	Mycenaean Greek to Roman Imperial
Cultures	Greek, Roman
Site notes
Condition	Ruined
Ownership	Public
Public access	Yes

Dodona (/doʊˈdoʊnə/; Doric Greek: Δωδώνα, romanized: Dōdṓnā, Ionic and Attic Greek: Δωδώνη,^[1] Dōdṓnē) in Epirus in northwestern Greece was the oldest Hellenic oracle, possibly dating to the 2nd millennium BCE according to Herodotus. The earliest accounts in Homer describe Dodona as an oracle of Zeus. Situated in a remote region away from the main Greek poleis, it was considered second only to the Oracle of Delphi in prestige.

Aristotle considered the region around Dodona to have been part of Hellas and the region where the Hellenes originated.^[2] The oracle was first under the control of the Thesprotians before it passed into the hands of the Molossians.^[3] It remained an important religious sanctuary until the rise of Christianity during the Late Roman era.