is an archaeological site in

Mersin Province Mersin Province (), formerly İçel Province (), is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast between Antalya Province, A ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Geography

The site is situated in the rural area of

Erdemli Erdemli is a municipality and district of Mersin Province, Turkey. Its area is 2,279 km2, and its population is 151,928 (2022). It is west of the city of Mersin. Geography Erdemli is located between the districts of Mezitli (to the east) a ...

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

Mersin Mersin () is a large city and port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of Mediterranean Region, Turkey, southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of the Mersin Province (formerly İçel). It is made up of four district governorates ...

is . Visitors from Mersin follow Turkish state road D.400 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 Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

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 known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

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 (; ) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology considered the herald of the gods. He is also widely considered the protector of human heralds, travelers, thieves, merchants, and orators. He is able to move quic ...

, 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 (☤; ; , ) is the staff carried by Hermes in Greek mythology and consequently by Hermes Trismegistus in Greco-Egyptian mythology. The same staff was borne by other heralds like Iris (mythology), Iris, the messenger of Hera. The s ...

. 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