After 1700 Years, Someone Built a New Temple Dedicated to the Ancient Greek Gods

For the first time in nearly 1,700 years, someone has built a new Greek temple dedicated to the worship of the ancient Greek gods.

The temple was constructed in Arcadia in Greece and is dedicated to Zeus and Pan. (Other accounts have mentioned Dionysus, but this is inaccurate.) This sacred space serves as a modern place of worship for those who honor the old gods, reigniting Hellenic religious traditions.

However, its construction has sparked controversy, with opposition from the Greek Orthodox Church and government authorities attempting to restrict its operation.

A Historic Revival of Hellenic Worship

The first new temple dedicated to the Ancient Greek gods in 1,700 years is a functional place of worship located in the lush mountains of Arcadia, near the village of Kalliani in the Peloponnese region of Greece. In Greek myths, this region is a utopia where Pan frolicked.

British doctor Dr. Manolis Heliotis was inspired to create the temple to Zeus and Pan on his 150-acre privately owned plot of land and archeologist Evangelos Bexis oversaw the construction of the Temple of Pan. Builders and artisans have been working meticulously to ensure that the temple maintained the integrity of traditional craftsmanship while making it functional for modern worship.

Bexis has said, “There are tens of thousands of people in Greece and abroad who believe in their ancestral gods and they do not have a place of worship. An injustice of centuries is being corrected.”

The temple is not yet complete, but because of the legal controversy, Bexis held an opening ceremony on March 8.

The temple is built from marble from various regions in Greece including Thasos and Mount Pentelicus. Because it’s an ionic temple, there are marble friezes, gables, column capitals, and pediments reminiscent of ancient structures. The doors are still under construction but will be double-leafed like the Ancient Greek temples.

There will be a functional altar for offerings of milk, fruit, and pouring honey. There will also be a marble altar. When complete, painted will paint it with the three colors used in Ancient Greece: blue, red, and yellow.

Inside the central focus is a statue of Pan, the pastoral god often associated with Arcadia, created by sculptor Deborah Conte.

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The Temple’s March 8 Unveiling Ceremony

On March 8, 2025, the temple was unveiled, blessed, and sanctified by more than a thousand local Hellenists. It marked a significant moment for practitioners of Hellenism, a polytheistic tradition that seeks to revive the religious and philosophical beliefs of ancient Greece.

The ceremony featured a series of ancient Greek-inspired rituals, processions, and performances that paid homage to the gods.

The unveiling began with a grand procession led by a man in a blue robe carrying a statue of Pan, symbolizing the return of the god’s presence to Arcadia. Participants dressed in flowing white robes carried ceremonial goat horns, a sacred symbol tied to Pan. The atmosphere was filled with the sound of hand drums and flutes, as drummers in red robes provided the rhythm for the event.

At the temple’s altar, incense burned as a priest in a blue chiton performed a ritual offering, blessing the space with sacred elements. The altar was adorned with amphorae, fresh greenery, and decorative golden elements, reinforcing the connection to ancient religious practices. Sacred dances were performed in front of the temple, with dancers in gray and gold garments moving in reverence to the gods, with raised horns symbolizing devotion to Pan.

The ceremony concluded with hymns and blessings, as participants celebrated the revival of Hellenic worship in a way unseen in Greece for over a millennium. It was a powerful and emotional moment for many, reinforcing their connection to their ancestral gods.

Can You Visit the Temple for Worship?

Unfortunately, despite Bexis securing the necessary permits for the temple, the Arcadia temple is not currently open for worship as Bexis is in a legal battle regarding its operation.

This is mostly because the Greek Orthodox church is very powerful in the country and opposes the worship of the ancient gods. It was just in 2006 that the courts ruled that it was legal to worship the Ancient Greek gods at their historical sites.

Controversy and Resistance

Not surprisingly, there was a lot of push back from the church when it came to the construction and opening of this Arcadia temple.

Nearby church official Metropolitan Nikiforos of Gortynos condemned the temple, stating that, “This news, which has already provoked discussions and reactions, requires our careful response as the Church of the Living God. This specific action, which attempts to restore practices and perceptions of a religiosity of bygone eras, causes us sadness and concern. It is not a return to a bright and glorious past, as its followers claim, but a regression to a dark world, dominated by human passions and demonic works.”

On February 24, police arrested Bexis on order of a prosecutor and halted construction. According to The Wild Hunt, the Department of Urban Development denied the temple’s ability to be a functioning building, only allowing the temple to remain standing if it could not be entered.

After his release by the prosecutor, Bexis took to social media, stating in a video on Facebook that, “It is an act of aggression that cannot be ignored. We are at war in every way. They ordered us, in a state where we are supposed to have religious freedom, that on March 8th we should not celebrate in honor of our Gods because we are illegal.

I told the police, ‘we will celebrate, come and arrest me.’ On March 8th, something huge will happen, and I want you all to be here. They will not stop us. We are many, we are strong, we must come forward.”

Want to learn more about the temple? Watch this video interview of Bexis discussing the creation of the temple. Just turn on the subtitles and have them show in English, unless you understand Greek, of course.

What This Means for Modern Paganism

The opening of this temple is more than just an architectural achievement. It is a powerful symbol of the resilience of ancient faiths in the modern era. Hellenism, like other pagan and polytheistic traditions, has seen a resurgence in recent decades as people seek spiritual paths outside of mainstream religions.