Hekateion

The Hekateion at Lagina is the only known monumental temple dedicated to Hekate. Located in a small village in the territory of Stratonikeia, the temple dates to between the end of the Aristonikos revolt (133-129 BCE) and the beginning of the first century BCE. Financed by Carian elites, several different local workshops built the Corinthian temple (ca. 125 BC) within the larger religious sanctuary of Lagina. The sanctuary served as a Panhellenic civil and religious center, holding festivals, housing priests, and selling provisions. Labienus sacked the temple in 40 BCE, with reconstruction of the temple financed in part by Augustus. A team of Ottoman excavators led by Osman Hamdi Bey removed most of the frieze in 1892. The East-facing side of the frieze shows Hekate assisting in the birth of Zeus, and the Northern side portrays Olympian and Carian deities as well as local heroes.The Western side pictures a gigantomachy, and the South side depicts a scene of celebration and reconciliation between Greeks and Amazons. The frieze is currently located in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum.