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Excavations at the Lagina Hecate Sanctuary in Türkiye's Mugla province have revealed the city’s ancient gate and a series of shops, providing new insights into the region’s religious and commercial history.
Professor Bilal Sogut, head of the Stratonikeia and Lagina Excavation Team, stated that the team is achieving remarkable results from ongoing excavations.
"We have begun to uncover the stoa (an ancient Greek colonnaded street) shops. Structures behind them are also emerging," he noted. "The walls and architectural elements of these structures have started to surface. We even identified roof tiles in their original locations."
The Lagina Hecate Sanctuary, located in Türkiye's Yatagan district of Mugla, is a significant religious site dedicated to the goddess Hecate. The site is one of two religious centers associated with the ancient city of Stratonikeia, located approximately 8.5 kilometers (5.28 miles) away.
Excavations here date back 134 years, initiated by Osman Hamdi Bey, marking the first Turkish-led archaeological excavation. Under the leadership of Professor Dr. Bilal Sogut, the team now focuses on uncovering the city’s entrance gate and adjacent shops as part of the "Heritage for the Future Project."
"We are working in areas from the Hellenistic and Roman periods, where we have unearthed remains dating back 2,400 years. Our aim is to reveal all the architectural and historical data related to the site's entrance and understand the original layout," Sogut explained.
Lagina’s significance is rooted in its role as a major sanctuary dedicated to Hecate, one of antiquity’s most important goddesses. Professor Dr. Sogut emphasized that this was the largest known sanctuary dedicated to Hecate and a site of major religious ceremonies.
"From the Eastern Mediterranean to Spain, people from 22 countries attended these ceremonies, making Lagina a significant center of the ancient world," he noted.
The archaeological team is employing advanced technology to document their discoveries, including 3D modeling of architectural elements. These digital reconstructions will help decide how the unearthed structures will be displayed in the future.
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