The Doric Temple

From temple to tower

 

Between 50 and 25 BC construction of a new temple began at the highest spot in the city centre of Sagalassos. The walls of that monument are partly preserved today. The temple was almost certainly dedicated to Zeus, who had long been the main god of Sagalassos and most Pisidian cities.

 

The temple was built in the Doric style but stood on a Roman-style podium, showing a mix of Greek and Roman architectural styles. Soon after its construction, during the reign of Emperor Augustus, a Corinthian-style monumental gate and new temenos (sacred enclosure) walls were built for the temple complex.

 

Around 400 AD the temple was abandoned. Soon afterwards, it was incorporated into the new fortification walls constructed around the Sagalassos city centre. The gate of these new walls, located just behind the former temple, was decorated with busts of Ares and Athena taken from the walls of the dismantled Bouleuterion. The temple was converted into a high tower incorporating many of the weaponry frieze blocks from the Hellenistic Council House nearby.