is an archaeological site in Mersin Province,

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Geography

The site is situated in the rural area of

Erdemli Erdemli is a town and district of Mersin Province in the Mediterranean region of Turkey, west of the city of Mersin. Geography Erdemli is located between the districts of Mezitli (to the east) and Silifke (to the west). In the north, Erdemli i ...

district of Mersin Province. Its distance to Erdemli is about and to

Mersin Mersin (), also known as İçel, is a large city and a port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of Mersin Province, Mersin (İçel) Province. It is made up of four municipalities and dis ...

is . Visitors from Mersin follow Turkish state road and a village road from the town of Ayaş to north. The ruins are to the west of the road.

History

Due to scarcity of documents, the history of the site has not been studied and the original name of the site is unknown. The Turkish name means "roof-ruin". But the presence of a

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

temple and polygonal masonry imply that the site was originally a Hellenistic site. It may be a 1st or 2nd century BC temple. The church however is probably a 6th-century

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

building. It seems, like many other similar sites the settlement continued uninterrupted from the Hellenistic to Byzantine age.

The ruins

Although the ruins are scattered around, only three building are partially standing. The building just next to the road is thought to be an early Byzantine church. Two walls as well as the apse are standing. The Hellenistic temple is further to west and located on a hill. It is a temple of

Hermes Hermes (; grc-gre, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travellers, thieves, merchants, and orato ...

, the Greek god of transitions. Partially rock carved, four walls and a staircase are standing. On the wall there is a relief of

Caduceus The caduceus (☤; ; la, cādūceus, from grc-gre, κηρύκειον "herald's wand, or staff") is the staff carried by Hermes in Greek mythology and consequently by Hermes Trismegistus in Greco-Egyptian mythology. The same staff was also ...

. There is another building which was probably a tower to the south of the temple. There are also ruins of cisterns, sepulchers etc. around.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Catioren Greek temples Erdemli District Archaeological sites in Mersin Province, Turkey Temples of Hermes Hellenistic Anatolia History of Mersin Province Olba territorium