Lagina

Overview

Near the village of Turgut in the Yatağan district, a forest of re-erected Corinthian columns rises from a marble platform. This was the Sanctuary of Hekate at Lagina, the largest temple ever built for the goddess of keys, torches and crossroads. For both sites in one day, join our Stratonikeia and Lagina tour. Every year, pilgrims walked here from the city of Stratonikeia along a sacred road, and a girl carrying a key led the festival.

Today its columns stand again, and its carved friezes are on show in Istanbul.

Lagina, the Sanctuary of Hecate

Lagina was a town and religious center of ancient Caria, near today’s Turgut in Muğla province. For most of antiquity, it belonged to Stratonikeia, which lay about 11 kilometers (7 miles) away along a sacred path. Recent studies also show that people used the site without a break since the Bronze Age.

Most of all, the site was famous for its monumental temple of Hekate, where great festivals took place every year. Hekate’s roots were probably Carian and Anatolian, and her image even appeared on the coins of Stratonikeia after 167/166 BC.

History of Lagina

From Carian village to Seleucid sanctuary

The town already existed in the 4th century BC, as a district of nearby Koranza. Later, after the Seleucids founded Stratonikeia in the mid-3rd century BC, it became one of the city’s great rural sanctuaries. Soon, the Seleucid kings built heavily here and made it a leading religious center of its time.

The last great Ionian temple

The most elaborate temple of Hekate went up in the 2nd century BC, probably before 133 BC. Scholars see it as the last great monument of the “Ionian Renaissance” that began in Caria with the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. In 40 BC, Quintus Labienus and his Parthian allies attacked the sanctuary, so Emperor Augustus paid for repairs and a new altar.

Earthquake and church

An earthquake in the year 365 left the stoas unused and cracked the altar. Afterwards, a large basilica rose between the altar and the temple, in use from the 4th to the 6th century. The town also became the seat of a bishop.

What to See at Lagina

The Temple of Hekate

After long restoration, archaeologists have re-erected the columns of the temple. Originally, it was built in the Corinthian order, with 8 columns on the short sides and 11 on the long sides. An inscription on the entrance gate also records that Augustus supported the sanctuary.

The key festival

The rituals here were unique. For example, in the “Key-Carrying” ceremony, a choir of girls walked to Stratonikeia. Then, on their return, the girl carrying the key, the kleidophoros, opened the gates, and the festival began. The rite reminded everyone that the city controlled the sanctuary, and that Hekate held the keys to the underworld.

The friezes in Istanbul

Today, the temple’s friezes are in the Istanbul Archaeology Museums. Together, they show four themes: scenes from the life of Zeus on the east, gods fighting giants on the west, a gathering of Carian gods on the south and a battle with Amazons on the north.

The Villages Around Lagina

In 1856, the British archaeologist Charles Newton found more than thirty inscriptions and nine frieze blocks here. Then, in 1891, Osman Hamdi Bey led the first authorized excavation at Lagina, the first ever carried out by a Turkish scientific team. Since 1993, an international team has continued the work under the Muğla Museum.

How to Visit Lagina

Getting to Lagina

• By road: drive from Yatağan toward Turgut and follow the signs to the sanctuary.
• Combine it: visit Stratonikeia at Eskihisar on the same day, the other end of the sacred road.
• Further west: the Temple of Zeus at Euromos stands near Milas.

Local tips for Lagina

• Follow the pilgrims by visiting Stratonikeia first, then Lagina.
• See the friezes later in Istanbul to complete the picture.
• We arrange your entry to the sanctuary of Hecate.