CORINTH TEMPLE

When the French archaeologist and traveler Félix Marie Charles Texier visited Patara in 1836, he discovered a small, well-preserved temple surrounded by dense vegetation and swampy water. This temple, of which Texier made the first drawings, faces north toward the inner harbor of Patara. This Roman Imperial structure was integrated into the defensive walls built in the Middle Ages and was probably used as a bastion.

The temple was built in the Roman architectural tradition and rises on a high podium measuring 18×12.4 meters. The façade of this podium, facing the port, is characterized by an impressive monumental staircase. The cella (sella or kella), the sacred space of the temple, measures 13×9.7 meters and is the main part of the temple that houses the cult statue. The two long walls of the cella form an extension towards the front and between these extensions, in front of the cella door, there are two columns according to Texier's observations. There are four columns on the front of the temple. All these columns are decorated with elegant capitals in the Corinthian order. However, since it has not yet been determined to which god or emperor the temple was dedicated, the building is called the Corinthian Temple because of the column capitals.