Zella

Temple plan with a cella in the center

Zella ( lat. Cella ) - the inner part of the Greek and Roman temple .

Sometimes cella are not quite correctly called naos by analogy with Christian churches .

Originally a small (later and large) room for food in Roman residential buildings; also the inside of religious buildings, especially temples , in which there were images of deities ; the inner sanctuary , where everyone was forbidden to enter, except for a certain circle of clergy .

The cella size of classical temples was small and notable for its decoration, compared to the outside of the temple, where a community of believers gathered for rituals.

In Celle, the predecessor of which are the Minoan and Mycenaean megarons without an external portico and columns ( pronaos ), the treasures of the temple, the donations of believers, were stored.

Behind the cell, in the opistode , there was Aditon - the saint of the saints of the temple, where the entrance was hidden, in order to prevent the looting of treasures. The arrangement of the columns in relation to the celle determines various types of temples ( antovy temple , prostil , peripter , pseudo-periper, dipter , pseudo- dipter ).