A must-see
article | Reading time2 min
The altar dedicated to the Bona Dea presented on the site is the original, not a copy. Don't miss it!
Around 100 AD, Glanum's Hellenistic market was transformed. Part of its southern half was dedicated to the cult of the Good Goddess.
Lined with a bench, it housed the cult of Bona Dea, a goddess here likened to Cybele (goddess of the earth), honored here by the religious college of the Glanic Dendrophores. In spring, these priests of Cybele bring a sacred pine tree to her sanctuary, symbolizing the god Atys .
Do you know the legend ? Cybele's lover, he emasculated himself, driven mad by her opposition to his marriage to the nymph Sagaritis. Remorseful, Cybele turned him into a pine tree.
A beautiful altar is dedicated by the priestess Loreia to "the ears" of the goddess : represented in a crown, they evoke those who listen to prayers.
©Michaël Piccardi
