A tholos or tolos (in ancient Greek: , plural thóloi) is, in the architecture of ancient Greece, a circular construction.

The first constructions of this type date back to the Paleolithic. Likewise, certain funerary constructions with a circular plan, such as those used in the Mycenaean culture, are called tholos. The archetype of these tombs is the "Treasure of Atreus".

Finally, tholos designates mainly a temple of classical style, generally Greek, with a circular plan surrounded by a colonnade. The best known is the tholos of Delphi.

Prehistory

A tholos may designate a Neolithic circular house. The oldest documented remains were found in Khirokitia (Cyprus), c. 5800 BC C., with rammed earth walls and mud-filled reeds and had dome-type roofs.[1]​.

These dwellings spread widely in the late Neolithic also throughout Crete. A type of tholos construction has been found in the Cyclades, but for use as a granary. Later, especially in Cyprus and Crete, circular huts were used as collective tombs.

Similar structures have been found in Los Millares, Spain. Currently, it can be visited.

In Antequera the tholos of El Romeral is found as an example of a double-chamber tomb from the Chalcolithic (3800 BC).

Mycenaean Tholos

The tholos tomb, chamber tomb or dome tomb is a very widespread type of tomb in the Mycenaean world (See: Mycenae, Pylos, Toricos...). The Treasure of Atreus, in Mycenae, is the most important.

These underground chambers or tombs, lined with stones, were covered by a false cantilever dome, with an ogival section, which was accessed through a hallway or corridor. This system cannot be maintained for long unless it is covered with a mass of earth that weighs it down and prevents its movement. When erosion eliminates this additional contribution of soil, its collapse occurs. This is usually what ends up happening.

Tholos of Athens

This monument was built in the Agora of Athens in 465 BC. C., after the destruction by Xerxes I in 480 BC. C., during the Persian Wars, from an older monument that had the same function.[2]​.

Tholos of Delphi

The Tholos of Delphi is included in the sanctuary of Athena Pronaia. This circular construction was built between 380 and 360 BC. C. It has 20 Doric columns arranged in a circle with an external diameter of 14.76 meters, with 10 Corinthian columns inside. The Tholos is located approximately 800 m from the monumental complex of Delphi. Three of the Doric columns were restored, improving the aesthetics of the monument and making it the most emblematic and photographed in Delphi.