The Temple of Hephaestus (also called Theseion or Theseum) was dedicated to ancient Greek God Hephaestus  and Goddess  Athena . It is located in Thissio, an area in the center of Athens, which was named under the assumption in after years that the temple was dedicated to Theseus.

The temple was designed and constructed around 450 BC surely before the Parthenon probably, by the generation of Marathon fighters and Kimon rather than the building plan of Pericles.

Doric columns surround the temple having six columns on the narrow sides and thirteen columns on the longer sides. It was built by architect Iktinos with marble from Pendeli mountain while the architectural sculptures that adorn the temple are made of marble from Paros.

The east metopes, facing the agora feature  the Labors of Hercules while the pediment depicts  the fight of the Centaurs ,the struggle of Theseus and Lapiths against the Centaurs of Pelion.

On the frieze there is an unidentified battle scene . We do not know if it is the victorious struggle of Theseus against the Pallantides, a battle of Greeks and Trojans at Skamander river, where Hephaestus helped Achilles or the battle of  Erechtheus against Eumolpus.

On the west side the decorative sculptures depict the siege against Troy and the hunt of the Calidonian Bore. The metopes on the long north and south sides depict the Labours of Theseus.The temple housed the bronze statues of Athena and Hephaestus made by the sculptor  Alkamenes.

The Temple of Hephaestus is the best preserved ancient temple in Greece.

The statue you hold in your hands is made in Greece by alabaster, a kind of semi-transparent precious marble. Our colored statues are hand-painted, while all our products are distinguished for their incomparable quality and attention to detail.