A historical building located in downtown Athens with Karyatides as the decor

A copy of Karyatid outside of at a museum in Athens

The word Karyatides comes from the ancient Greek word ‘Kariates’ which means daughter. The daughters are said to have come a town outside of Sparta called ‘Karyes’. It is believed that they were very strong maidens who danced together in a circle with baskets on their heads. These women influenced Greek architecture and even the architecture beyond Greece.

Last year, all of Greece have been abuzz with the excavations of the large burial mound at Amphipolis in the region of Macedonia.  some of the things that have been discovered include a large mosaic depicting the abduction of Persephone  have been found and recently skeletons have been found. Whether the skeletons are that of Alexander the Great or one of his generals remain to be seen. In the second chamber be Karyatids were found that appeared to be guard at the entrance to the tomb chamber. The discovery of the Karyatides had every Greek talking about these mysterious women. What is the story behind them? Why are they everywhere? There are five of them at the Erechtheum at the Acropolis, the sixth one is in the British museum in London.  In 525 B.C there used to be Karyatides at a temple in Delphi with ionic style clothing. We can find them a many national banks in Western Europe as well.