The monument was erected in a prominent position, in contact with the southern city walls, in the 1st century AD and remained in use until the 2nd century AD. It is a doric temple with a pronaos and cella, standing on a podium that protrudes from the wall like a bastion.

It has been identified with a funerary monument of prominent Messenians, possibly of Tiberius Claudius Saithidas, the lifelong high priest of the imperial cult and Helladarch of the Achaean League, as well as members of his family. The Saithidai was the most eminent family in Messene, and even one of its members managed to become a member of the Roman Senate.