Ancient temples in Turkey
 
Termessos

 

 

     
 

 

   
Temple for: Artemis and Emperor Hadrian
erected: Temple: unknown, Propylon: beginning of 2nd century A.D.
Dimensions: Stylobat: unknown
  Peristasis: ./.
   
Ground plan

   
Roman province: Pamphylia
Location: Korkuteli county, Province Antalya
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   

Karl Graf Lanckoroński wrote in 1892, freely taken over:

The traveller entering this valley, surrounded by wooded hills, is struck above all by a doorway that rises above the bushes, the remains of a gate to which a wide staircase leads in two steps. The staircase is almost completely preserved; the presence of columns at this point is evidenced by the discovery of column drums and a 2.2 m cantilevered architrave spanning the central intercolumnum. Friezes and cornices were also found.
A cornice piece with horizontal gutter strips on both sides proves that no gable crowned the column construction. The cornice is profiled on both sides, to the outside with tooth cuts, consoles, hanging plates and gutter strips with lion heads, to the inside only with a large S-shaped cornice. Some cornice pieces once lay on the intermediate wall in which the door is located.
A stone slab with cassettes, 1.08 m wide, 0.52 m thick, broken in length, probably belonged to the horizontal ceiling. The capstones lay, contrary to other exercises, not on the architrave, but on the cornice. The clear width of the door is 1.70 m, its height is 4.22 m. A dedication inscription on the architrave dedicates the building to Emperor Hadrian.

A few steps behind this propylaion lie the ruins of the temple. It was an ionic peripteros with a cella about 8 m wide. We noted canneled column drums up to 1.02 m diameter, furthermore attic wall and column bases, as well as ionic capitals.

 
   
Artemis  

In Greek mythology, Artemis is the goddess of hunting, the forest, the moon and the guardian of women and children. She is one of the twelve great Olympic gods and therefore one of the most important deities of Greek mythology. She is the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. She corresponds to Diana in Roman mythology.

 

 

 

Emperor Hadrian

 

Publius Aelius Hadrianus was the fourteenth Roman emperor. He reigned from 117 until his death on 10 July 138. Hadrian, like his extensive relative and imperial predecessor Trajan, was at home in Hispania. As ruler he made intensive efforts to consolidate the unity of the Roman Empire, which he visited extensively in large parts.

Through grants and administrative measures at the level of the Roman provinces and cities, he promoted prosperity and strengthened the infrastructure. As he fought only a few wars, his reign was an epoch of peace for most of the empire.
He renounced conquests and gave up the territories won by Trajan in the Parthian War, thus making a sharp and controversial change of course. In the military sphere, he concentrated his efforts on an efficient organization of the imperial defence.
His border fortifications, including Hadrian's Wall, named after him, served this purpose in particular.
His reign, however, was overshadowed by his tense relationship with the Senate, in which he had many bitter enemies.
Hadrian was interested in many things and ambitious in testing his talents. He held Greek culture in high esteem, in particular the city of Athens, famous as the classical centre of Greek education, which he promoted through intensive building activity alongside many other cities.
During his reign he built important buildings such as the library in Athens, the Pantheon and the Angel Castle in Rome as well as the Hadrians Villa near Tivoli.

 
   
The history of Termessos:

 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   

 
     
     
Drawing: Karl Graf Lanckoroński l Städte Pamphyliens und Pisidiens l Band II, Wien 1892    
Photos: @chim    
Translation aid: www.DeepL.com/Translator    
Source: Wikipedia and others