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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.
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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.
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