The Temple of Hera, wife of Zeus.  Many of the Temple's Doric columns of rough  limestone, faced with pulverized marble, stand today and give a sense of grandeur to the ruins. Hera was worshiped along with her regal husband, and in her Temple athletes supplicated for victory.

The temple of Hera is the oldest temple of the Sanctuary, among the best specimens of archaic doric temple architecture.It was peripteral with six columns at the narrow and sixteen columns at the long sides.

The originally wooden columns were gradually replaced by stone ones. According to legend, here was kept the disk of the Sacred Truce.
In Roman times the statue of Hermes made by the sculptor Praxiteles was positioned in the cella.

                                                                                                 Temple of Hera model