Large Storehouse
The Large Storehouse was built in the middle of the 2nd century BC, along the western wing of the South Agora, in order to store wheat and merchandise, and was in immediate operational relation with the South Agora.
The Large Storehouse was an oblong edifice. In its initial phase, it stretched from the Bouleuterion up to the Serapis Temple. Its dimensions (163.40XZ13.40 m.) equalled the length of six building blocks of the Hippodameian city, while its width did not exceed half the width of a building block. A series of forty-two marble pillars along its axis divided the building in two long sections and supported the douple piitched roof.
Its east and west sides were blind, that is there were no windows. The facade of the narrow south side was made up of half columns between antae, like the facade of the Bouleuterion (contemporary to the Large Storehouse), combining elements of the Doric and Ionic orders. Both its form and its function express the public nature of the edifice.
The layout of the interior, for which there is no archaeological evidence, must have allowed for a ground space and a first floor, with many separate, wooden, storing constructions. Access to the building was through wooden doors on the long west side. Direct communication between the Large Storehouse and the South Agora was offered by the construction of a stoa on its long east side.
At a later building phase, the north section of the Large Storehouse was made smaller in order for a road to pass parallel to the long south side of the Bouleuterion. After this drastic modification, its length reached 105 metres. The edifice was also used as a storeroom during Roman times.
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