The temple of Hera, also called the Haraion, is one of the first monumental temples in Greece. It is located in the north-west corner of the blessed area of the Altis, on the south slopes of Kronios hill, secured by a powerful terrace wall. It was devoted to the Olympian sanctuary by the people of Skillous, which is an ancient city of Eleia. It has been said that the temple was built approximately eight years after Oxylos rose to the throne of Elis, which was c. 1096 BC, but in reality it is much later. Around 650 BC, the first Heraion was built, it was a small Doric temple with merely a cella and pronaos. Later in 600 BC, the opisthodomos and ptero were added. However, the theory that the entire temple was built around 600 BC prevails today. The temple was renovated a few times, and the Romans decided to convert it into a kind of museum. The museum was for sanctuary’s choicest treasures, such as the famous Hermes by Praxiteles.

The temple, which has a typical squat appearance owing to its great length in proportion to itsextent and its low height, is orientated east-west. It was a Doric peripteral hexastyle with sixteen columns at the sides. The original wooden columns were slowly replaced by stone ones. In which they belong to every period from the Archaic to Roman times, and it demonstrates the full development of the Doric style. Even when Pausanias visited the temple in the second century AD, a wooden column was still in place at the opisthodomos. The columns had shallow openings where painted portraits of the winners at the Heraia games were positioned. The lower part of the temple was of shell-limestone and the upper part of mud brick. The entablature was of wood with terracotta revetment and terracotta tiles. The central circular akroterion, also of terracotta, had remarkable painted decoration.

The temple was divided into three chambers: pronaos, cella and opisthodomos. The cella, which is entered through the pronaos by a double door 2.90 metres wide, was separated longitudinally by two rows of Doric columns. Every other column was engaged in an internal cross-wall, the four cross-walls defining five niches. The cult statues of Zeus and Hera stood on a pedestal at the far end of the cell. Zeus was portrayed standing next to Hera who was seated on a throne. The Archaic stone head of Hera which was recovered near the Heraion. It is displayed in the Olympia Archaeological Museum and is attributed tentatively to this group. This is where the sixteen noble Elean women who organized the Heraian games, placed a new peplos woven for the goddess every four years. The temple is known to have held the Disk of Iphitos on which the Olympic truce was celebrated. While in the opisthodomos were the Chest of Kypselos made of wood, gold and ivory, and decorated with mythological scenes. On the other hand, the Table of Kolotes on which the Olympic victors' wild olive crowns was also displayed. Only the temple’s basement with its massive orthostates and lower columns are visible. Remains of the terracotta entablature and the akroterion are displayed in the museum.

Some believe that this was the site of the very first temple in Olympia, maybe dedicated to a goddess originally. And this goddess was the goddess of marriage, Hera. She was the wife of Zeus and Queen of the Olympians. Hera despised the great hero Heracles since he was the son of her husband Zeus and a mortal woman. When Heracles was still a baby, she would send snakes to his crib to attack him. When he was on one of his quests, she was able to stir up the Amazons against him. On the other hand, Hera supported the hero Jason, who would never have retrieved the Golden Fleece without her sponsorship. In Greek mythology, Hera was the ruling female goddess of Olympus only because she was Zeus's wife. But her respect is actually far older than that of her husband. It goes back to when the creative force we call "God" was considered of as a woman.

The Olympic torch is lit just like old times at the Temple of Hera. It is lit a few times a month before the start of the actual games. The flame begins its journey at the site of the original Olympic Games, which is, Olympia, Greece. An actress dressed as a traditional priestess, in the robes of the ancient Greeks, proceeds to light the torch via the same method used in the original Games. She uses a parabolic mirror to focus the light rays from the sun. The parabolic mirror has a curved shape and when it is held toward the sun, the curvature focuses the rays to a single point. The energy from the sun creates a great deal of heat. She then holds a torch in the center of the parabolic mirror. And the heat ignites the fuel in the torch, which causes it so start sparkling a flame. If by any chance, the sun is not shining on the day of the lighting ceremony, the priestess can light the torch with a flame that was lit previously during the ceremony. The flame is then carried in a fire pot to an altar in the ancient Olympic stadium, where it is used to light the first runner's torch.

The Temple of Hera I, also known as the Basilica, is an ancient Doric temple from c. 550 BCE. The temple is located in the ancient city of Paestum. The name Basilica is an 18th century creation, but it is still in common use today. The Temple of Hera I is the first well-known temple to be built in Poseidonia, where it was constructed within a century after the foundation of the city. The temple was part of a larger enclosed sanctuary to Hera, which also included the later Temple of Hera II and other temples and altars. The Temple of Hera II, sporadically called the Temple of Poseidon is an archaic Doric temple in the ancient city of Paestum. It is known to be one of the best preserved Greek temples in the world. The temple is the last of the great temples of Poseidonia, constructed c. 470-460 BCE within the sanctuary of Hera, just besides the older Temple of Hera I.

The dedication to Hera is confirmed by votive gifts, which includes, small female terracotta statues. These votive gifts from the worshippers were regularly buried in special sacred mines close to the temple. Just in front of the temple was an enormous altar, made of blocks of limestone and accessed by lateral stairs. (See Fig. 1.) Offerings to the God would be made near the stairs. Unfortunately, the general public didn’t have any access to the enclosed parts of the temple, so public rituals had to be done outside the temple at all times. The cult of the Temple of Hera I continued even after the construction of the Temple of Hera II, which was obviously dedicated to the same goddess. In late antiquity, when Paestum was in decline and all the cults came to an end, the Temple of Hera I was abandoned to forces of nature.