|
Standing majestically beside the main road between Milas
and Lake Bafa is one of the best-preserved temples in Asia Minor. This
is the Temple of Euromos.
The temple was built in the 2nd century AD, and sixteen
of its original seventeen columns are still standing, complete with
their architraves. It is believed that the temple was never completed,
as evidenced by three columns on the south and southwest sides which
have no fluting, but an archaeological survey in 1969 found an
inscription from Hellenistic times which proved that the present temple
was built on the site of an even earlier one. The city of Euromos stood
a short walk from the temple, to the north. There you will find the
remains of a round tower, dating from 300 BC, which was once part of the
city wall and from which it is possible to trace the wall which it is
possible to trace the wall which once enclosed a very large area. On the
hillside above the plain are the remains of a badly deteriorated west-facing
theatre, best preserved in its northern corner.
From
the extent of the ruins it appears that Euromos was a city of
considerable wealth. Contemporary writings show that the citizens lived
in some disharmony, although in apparent union with their more powerful
neighbors at Mylasa. This union did not last, for when Mylasa demanded
recompense for some infringement by Euromos, the citizens turned to the
Rhodian and Romans for atonement and hence regained their independence.
On the way back from the city walls, past the temple,
are several underground tomb chambers, roofed with huge slabs of stone,
and closer to the road is a large shapeless building which was probably
the baths.
It is an area rich in archaeological remains, but the
most magnificent and dominant of all is the towering Temple of Euromos.
|