Works have uncovered buildingsfrom the first and second centuries. (AA Photo)
Excavations are continuing in two areas of Klaros Sanctuary in the western province of İzmir’s Menderes district, including structures where visitors stayed and a building complex containing seven rooms dating to the Roman Imperial period.
According to a statement from İzmir Municipality, the excavations are being carried out in cooperation with the Culture and Tourism Ministry and Ege University’s Department of Archaeology, with support from the municipality.
An interdisciplinary team of archaeologists, architects, restorers, conservators, epigraphers and numismatists has been working at various parts of the site throughout the excavation season.
Excavation head Associate Professor Onur Zunal said work was continuing in two separate areas of the sanctuary.
Excavations east of the sanctuary’s entrance structure have uncovered buildings where visitors stayed during the first and second centuries A.D. Zunal said these structures were known as “katagogeion” and could be compared to modern motels or guesthouses.
Zunal said excavations have also been underway since 2016 at a building complex covering approximately 2,500 square meters toward Notion, the main city associated with the sanctuary. The complex was used during the Roman Imperial period, between the first and third centuries A.D., he said.
The northern section of the structure contains seven rooms, while archaeologists believe another seven rooms may have stood parallel to them in the southern section. An open courtyard lies in the middle of the complex, Zunal said.
The building’s function has not yet been definitively established. Everyday vessels and coins found at the site are helping researchers determine its date, he added.
Klaros Sanctuary was one of the important centers where oracles were delivered in the name of Apollo in antiquity. Believed to have been established in the 13th century B.C., it is considered one of the ancient world’s three major oracle centers, alongside the temples of Apollo at Didyma and Delphi.
