# In Greco-Roman worship, was the sacrificial altar inside or outside the temple?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-greco-roman-worship-was-the-sacrificial-altar-inside-or-outside-the-temple/541804>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 3, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-greco-roman-worship-was-the-sacrificial-altar-inside-or-outside-the-temple/541804 "2010-06-03T17:51:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-greco-roman-worship-was-the-sacrificial-altar-inside-or-outside-the-temple/541804/1 "2010-06-03T17:51:53Z")

</div>

I’ve seen it portrayed both ways in historical fiction. Outside would seem more practical, given the enclosed space of a classical temple’s [_cella_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cella) or inner sanctuary; you wouldn’t want it filling up with smoke from burning animal fat. But inside is, well, where the god lives.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-greco-roman-worship-was-the-sacrificial-altar-inside-or-outside-the-temple/541804/2 "2010-06-03T18:25:42Z")

</div>

As far as I know, the sacrificial altar would be outside the cella, for obvious reasons, and there would usually be a smaller altar inside the cella for incense, libations, and other things that don’t require killing an animal, in front of the statue of the god. Cellae were pretty small.