The Beotian Kabirion was discovered due to a chance find of bronze statuettes in 1887. The sanctuary was devoted to deities Kabeiros and Pais - called Kabeiroi, both of unknown very ancient origin. It was a four-columned prostyle temple, ca. 7 x 23 m, built in the 4th c. on prehistoric, archaic and Classical remains. To the S of the temple was a portico open to the SE and 40m long and 6 m wiide.Portico was modified in the 1st c. Bc. Behind the portico and N of the temple are remains of the several unidentified buildings.
Pausanias: Methapus was an Athenian by birth, an expert in the mysteries and founder of all kinds of rites. It was he who established the mysteries of the Cabiri at Thebes, and dedicated in the hut of the Lycomidae a statue with an inscription that amongst other things helps to confirm my account1:
Sources:
- Pausanias, Description of Greece, diff.
- G. Bruns and P. Wolters, Das Kabiren-Heiligtum bei Theben, Berlin 1940
- Wofgang Heyder, Alfred Mallwitz, Die Bauten und Kabiren-Heiligtum bei Theben 1978
- https://topostext.org/place/383233SKab
