Greek Agora, Bouleuterion (Old) / Metroon

A large, nearly square building situated in part over an earlier building Complex (early 6th Century BC) that may have served as a meeting place. In the Bouleuterion (Senate House) there met every day the 500-member Kleisthenean Boule (Senate), which had replaced an older, 400-member body. This group prepared the legislative bills that were normally voted on in the Assembly of the  People (Ecclesia of the Demos). Only the lowest foundations survive; they indicate that the building was roughly square in plan, with interior Columns to support the roof. A small stoa was constructed at the northwest corner of the square. The building faced east onto the Agora, and had eight Doric Columns across the front, with four inside. Immediately outside the building was a huge, unworked Stone which has been identified as the oath Stone of the Athenians, described by Aristotle. The building was also the site of the worship of the Mother of the Gods and housed not only her cult statue (attributed to Agorakritos or less probably to Pheidias), but the public Archives of the city. Its foundations are preserved under the Metroon, a building of the 2nd Century BC.