<P> The cella of a Greek temple was entered only rarely and by very few visitors . Generally, entry to the room, except during important festivals or other special occasions, was limited to the priests . Sometimes, the divine character of the cult image was stressed even more by removing it further into a separate space within the cella, the adyton . Especially in Magna Graecia, this tradition continued for a long time . Over the decades and centuries, numerous votive offerings could be placed in the cella, giving it a museum - like character (Pausanias 5, 17). </P> <P> The back room of the temple, the opisthodomos, usually served as a storage space for cult equipment . It could also hold the temple treasury . For some time, the opisthodomus of the Athenian Parthenon contained the treasury of the Delian League, thus directly protected by the deity . Pronaos and opisthodomos were often closed off from the peristasis by wooden barriers or fences . </P> <P> Like the cella, the peristasis could serve the display and storage of votives, often placed between the columns . In some cases, votive offerings could also be directly affixed to the columns, as is visible e.g. on the Temple of Hera at Olympia . The peristasis could also be used for cult processions, or simply as shelter from the elements, a function emphasised by Vitruvius (III 3, 8f). </P> <P> The sponsors of Greek temples usually belonged to one of two groups: on the one hand public sponsors, including the bodies and institutions that administrated important sanctuaries; on the other hand influential and affluent private sponsors, especially Hellenistic kings . The financial needs were covered by income from taxes or special levies, or by the sale of raw materials like silver . The collection of donations also occurred, especially for supra - regional sanctuaries like Delphi or Olympia . Hellenistic monarchs could appear as private donors in cities outside their immediate sphere of influence and sponsor public buildings, as exemplified by Antiochos IV, who ordered the rebuilding of the Olympieion at Athens . In such cases, the money came from the private treasury of the donor . </P>

The triangular part which appears on either facade of a greco-roman temple is called the