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Modern Description: Site, in Caria, of the famous temple of Hecate. Near Turgut (formerly Leyne), 15 km NW of Yatagan. Lagina was a village in the territory of Stratonikeia, but the name is not used in the inscriptions, and the village appears to have been called Hierakome. The cult is not attested before the period of Rhodian domination in 189-167 B.C., but was no doubt much older. The sanctuary was joined to Stratonikeia by a sacred way, of which virtually nothing is now to be seen. Numerous festivals were celebrated at the site, notably the annual Hekatesia, to which a quadrennial Hekatesia-Romaia was added after the Mithridatic war, also the annual Bearing of the Key, and the Birthday Festival. Personnel included the priest (a priestess not before the 3d c. A.D.), the Key Bearer (a young girl), the neokoros, the president of the mysteries, and the eunuchs.
In 88 B.C. Stratonikeia resisted Mithridates but was taken by force; it was rewarded by Sulla with an alliance of friendship with Rome and confirmation of the inviolability of the sanctuary at Lagina; this was inscribed on the temple itself. In 40 B.C. Labienus revenged himself for his failure to take Stratonikeia by sacking the temples, including that of Hekate; the damage was repaired with the help of Augustus, as is acknowledged in an inscription on the lintel of the propylon.
The temple lies at present in a flat heap heavily overgrown, but its plan is clear and many of the architectural features remain. It was pseudodipteral, in the Corinthian order, with a peristyle of 11 columns by 8; the pronaos and cella were of almost equal dimensions, and there was no opisthodomos. The building faced E. Elements still in position include the steps on the E front, the antae of the pronaos, some of the orthostats of the cella wall, three column bases at the rear, and part of the paving of the peristyle. Much of the frieze and numerous inscriptions were removed by 19th c. excavators. The frieze covered all four sides of the building, with scenes representing the birth of Zeus, a battle of gods and giants, and a scene of reconciliation between Greeks and Amazons; Hekate features in all of these. On the S side was a series of figures which seem to have represented Carian cities and deities. Estimates of the date vary from ca. 125 B.C. to the end of the 1st c.
The precinct surrounding the temple was ca. 150 by 135 m. It was enclosed by a stoa in the Doric order, the S side of which was raised on a flight of 11 steps, with a staircase at the W end; but little of this can now be made out. At the E end of the S stoa was a propylon; the gate still stands, with jambs and inscribed lintel complete.
The inscriptions indicate that there was much else in the precinct: 'three stoas in the sacred house'; (presumably living quarters for the clergy), a provision market, and a sacred grove of trees maintained by the eunuchs. One inscription forbids flocks to be pastured in the sanctuary. (G. E. BEAN)
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagina
Wikidata ID: Q1532991
Trismegistos Geo: 16160

Info: Princeton Encyclopedia

(Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, from Perseus Project)

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