Lagina Archaeological Sitevisitor guide.

The sanctuary of Hekate at Lagina is located within Turgut Town, Yatağan District, Muğla Province. Turning right onto the asphalt road beside the thermal power plant along the Yatağan–Milas highway, one arrives at the ruins of Lagina after 9 km. Renowned as a paramount cult center of the Carians, the sanctuary's fame has endured to this day, the area still known locally as Leyne. Recent investigations demonstrate uninterrupted human occupation from the Early Bronze Age (3000 BC) to the present. Through extensive urban campaigns, Seleucid kings established Lagina as the regional religious center while designating Stratonikeia, 11 km distant, as the political metropolis. Inscriptions surviving at Lagina and on the walls of the Stratonikeia bouleuterion reveal that these two cities were linked via a Sacred Way. The Lagina sanctuary encompasses a propylon (monumental gateway), the Sacred Way, an altar for sacrifices, a peribolos enclosure wall, Doric stoas, and the Temple of Hekate. The sacred precinct is enclosed by walls preserved up to two meters in height, which also form the back walls of the stoas. The monumental entrance building, featuring three portals and an apse supported by four Ionic columns at its western end, connects to the stoa via a doorway. Ten steps descend from the propylon to the stone-paved way leading to the altar. Enclosed by five steps and seated upon a platform carrying a single peristyle with Attic-Ionic bases and Corinthian capitals, the temple occupies the center of the sanctuary. The temple is built in pseudodipteral plan with 8x11 Corinthian columns, featuring two Ionic columns in the pronaos. Excavations at Lagina hold historical importance as the first excavations conducted by Turkish scholars, directed by Osman Hamdi Bey and Halil Edhem Bey. Excavations and restorations were resumed in 1993 under Muğla Museum Directorate with architect-archaeologist Ahmet Tırpan as scientific advisor. Friezes transported by Osman Hamdi Bey to Istanbul Archaeology Museums depict four mythological themes: eastern frieze depicts Zeus's life; western depicts Gigantomachy; southern portrays the assembly of Carian deities; northern depicts the Amazonomachy. DOWNLOAD MUSEUM BROCHURE NEARBY MUSEUMS BODRUM ANCIENT THEATRE BODRUM MAUSOLEUM MONUMENT MUSEUM BODRUM ZEKİ MÜREN ART MUSEUM MARMARİS MUSEUM UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGY MUSEUM SEDİR ISLAND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE