The Temple of Zeus Lepsynos at Euromos

Euromos Zeus Lepsynos Temple is located in the south of the city, in a sanctuary surrounded by peribolos walls. Although traces from the Archaic and Hellenistic periods were found in the tample, no findings belonging to the Classical period were found. The finds that belong to the Archaic period, the earliest phase of the sanctuary, consist of blocks and terracottas, figurines, ceramics and a piece of a kouros body. The small finds do not come from a homogeneous layer, moreover no structures or traces of structures of in situ to which architectural elements belong were found. Therefore, there is no definite conclusion about the existence of the Archaic temple. The available data indicate that the building activities in the sanctuary were carried out in the second half of the 6th century BC. While there were no findings from the Classical period of the temple, written sources and archaeological data from the Classical period of the city were found. The data obtained throughout the city show that possible data on the Classical period of the temple can be reached through further detailed studies in the sanctuary. The Hellenistic period of the temenos area is represented by the altar, the monument architecture, the pipe system, the inscriptions, coins, ceramics and a sculpture torso. The mentioned data show that the sanctuary was extensively used in the Hellenistic period. Architectural and small finds show that the area was a stage of building activities especially in two phases during the Hellenistic period. An inscription discovered among the pillar foundation of the Roman Imperial period temple clearly reveals that the Temple of Zeus Lepsynos existed in the 3rd century BC. Considering the place where the inscription was obtained, the fact that the architectural elements belonging to the Hellenistic temple were not obtained can be explained by the fact that they had been used in the foundation of the temple of the Roman Imperial period. The temple belonging to the Roman Imperial period is one of the best preserved temples in Anatolia. The foundation of the temple has two different structures, the main structure and peristasis. The main building foundation was built as a radie-general due to the imperative to follow the contour of the construction. In the peristasis, the columns were placed on foundations up to 2.00 m high, and the gaps between these foundations were covered with small semi-processed blocks. The crepidoma of the temple consist of four crepis. Due to the topographic structure, a 1.34 m high terrace wall was also built on the north face in addition to the crepidoma. Stylobate measures 14.40x26.80 m. Stylobate in pronaos, pteroma and opisthodomos have the same elevation, while it has a higher elevation in naos. The main structure consists of three parts: pronaos, naos and opisthodomos. There are also different structures within naos such as naiskos and adyton. The building walls consist of an Attic-Ionic type base, body, crown, architrave and anta capitals. Columns consist of an Attic-Ionic type base, body consisting of three drums and Corinthian capitals. The architrave, which was left plain, consists of three fascias, a thin flat moulding, an astragalos, an ovolo, a cavetto and finally a thin flat moulding. While the main stage of the friezes consists of a simple area with a high, wide and convex profile, the frieze crown consists of kyma reversa and a flat moulding. The cornices, from bottom to top, consist of geisipodes, geison, and an "S" profiled sima with a gargoyle on it. Considering the slots fixed on the pediment and cornices, it can be said that the roof cover, which does not exist in the present day, was wooden. The total height of the building from the stylobates to the hill acroteria is 13.72 m. The plan of temple is peripteros. The peristasis is surrounded by 6x11 columns and the main building is in antis in the opisthodomos section and prostylos in the pronaos section. Architectural decoration can be seen on the main building wall base, the jamb and lintel blocks of the naos gate, column bases, Corinthian capitals and naiskos's frieze blocks. The parallel examples of architectural decoration show that the temple was built in the 2nd century AD. Keywords: Euromos, Zeus, Lepsynos, Temple, Architecture.