Thermos (Aetolia)

Thermos

The remains of Thermos
Shown within Greece
Alternative name	Thermon, Thermum
Location	Thermo, Aetolia-Acarnania, Greece
Region	Aetolia
Coordinates	38°33′34″N 21°40′5″E / 38.55944°N 21.66806°E / 38.55944; 21.66806
Type	Sanctuary with temple
History
Founded	Approximately 1500 BC onwards
Abandoned	probably after 189 BC
Periods	Late Helladic IIA to Hellenistic period
Site notes
Management	36th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities
Website	Thermos

Thermos (/ˈθɜːrmɒs/; also known as Thermon /ˈθɜːrmən/, Thermum; Greek: Θέρμος or Thermika) was an ancient Greek sanctuary, which served as the regular meeting place of the Aetolian League.^[1] Its focal point was the temple of Apollo Thermios of about 630 to 610 BC, "one of the earliest developed Doric temples known and a monument of primary importance for our knowledge of the history of Greek architecture". The most famous survivals are the Archaic terracotta metopes decorated with painted scenes from mythology, which are among the earliest examples of this art form in Greece. What is left of these, and other finds from the site, are now in the museum at Thermos, with a selection of the best pieces in National Archaeological Museum, Athens.^[2]

Thermos was not a city in the sense of a built-up urban centre like Athens, Argos or Corinth and until a late date the Aetolian League was a loose association with a tribal basis rather than a group of city-states.

The ancient name is preserved in the nearby contemporary Greek village of Thermo, Greece.