Temple of Goddess Hecate rebuilt

MUĞLA

Restoration work is being carried out at the 2,100-year-old Temple of Hecate in Lagina, a center of ancient pagan beliefs located in the southwestern province of Muğla.

Situated in the Yatağan district, the temple is dedicated to Hecate — the classical goddess of crossroads, doors, night, magic, witchcraft, and ghosts — and is currently being rebuilt. The upper structure of the columns surrounding the naos, the temple’s most sacred area, is being reerected.

Speaking to the state-run Anadolu news agency, Professor Bilal Söğüt, head of the Stratonikeia and Lagina excavations, said they are conducting excavation, restoration and drawing work at Lagina throughout the year.

Söğüt emphasized that Lagina, one of the two religious centers of the ancient city of Stratonikeia, is significant due to its temple dedicated to the ancient goddess Hecate. He noted that this is the largest known sacred area from the ancient period dedicated to the goddess.

“This is one of the first places where the Ottoman archaeologist Osman Hamdi Bey excavated in Western Anatolia in the Ottoman era. He worked here on behalf of the Ottoman Empire in 1891-1892. We are conducting both excavation and drawing works at the temple and also performing temporary anastylosis [the reconstruction of a structure from blocks discovered during excavations, without adding any new elements] related to the upper structure of the temple. We have reached a better understanding of the ancient architecture and the ongoing processes of such an important cultural center," Söğüt said.

He noted that as blocks from the temple dating back 2,100 years are discovered, they are carefully placed back in their original positions.

Söğüt added that these works involve reassembling blocks from the naos and the surrounding columns, known as the peristasis.