Ancient Greek Sanctuaries from a Sensorial Perspective

In 1996, Juhani Pallasmaa described in The Eyes of the Skin an almost holistic sensorial experience of space while in movement. In contrast, scholarly approach to ancient Greek sanctuaries has remained a rather dry academic exercise that does not always acknowledge them as spatial configurations that require the polyphony of the senses. Thise paper presents Greek sanctuaries as spaces that were anything but empty contemplative environments. The use and experience of sacred spaces networks are addressed as non-static processes. It shows that the ancient sacred built environment was created for sets of actions and practices performed by users who were not mere non-participating observers or passive consumers, but rather “agents” whose movement through and sensorial interaction with their surroundings defined, utilized, and re-defined the space in any given ancient sanctuary.