Klaros
Klaros (Greek Κλάρος, Latin Clarus ) was in ancient times an important Orakelort the god Apollo on the west coast of Asia Minor (now about 16 kilometers west of Selçuk in Turkey ).
It belonged to the town of Kolophon , about 13 km away , although it was much closer to the town of Notion . The oldest references to Klaros come from the 7th century BC. BC, but the oracle is probably much older than the Greek colonization. A sacred cave indicates that the Asian goddess Cybele was worshiped here before Apollo . Up until Roman times, Klaros enjoyed a reputation that was comparable to that of Delphi and Didyma . Klaros was largely destroyed in an earthquake .
According to an ancient legend, the seer Kalchas was prophesied that he would die if he met a seer who was superior to him. At Klaros he met the seer Mopsos , and Kalchas asked him to name the number of fruits on a fig tree. When the answer that Mopsos gave was confirmed to the last fig, Kalchas died. Mopsos is also considered the legendary founder of Klaros.
Alexander the Great went to the oracle of Klaros to have a dream interpreted in which he founded a city on Mount Pagos. The oracle explained the dream as an invitation to rebuild the city of Smyrna .
Klaros was rediscovered by the archaeologist Carl Schuchhardt towards the end of the 19th century. The systematic archaeological development began at the beginning of the 20th century by Theodor Macridy and Charles Picard . From 1951 to 1960 Louis Robert and Roland Martin mined here . From 1988 to 1997 further French excavations took place under the direction of Juliette de La Genière .
Klaros is particularly worth seeing because of the extensive fragments of the larger-than-life Hellenistic cult statues, which - unlike most archaeological excavation sites - have been put back in their original location. The visitor can get a true to the original picture of the ancient sanctuary. Also of interest is the center of the oracle temple, most of which still exists in the original. The wedge arches are still clearly visible.
literature
- Carl Schuchhardt : Colophon, Notion and Klaros . In: Athenische Mitteilungen 11, 1886, pp. 398–434 ( online ).
- Juliette de La Gerniere (Ed.): Cahiers de Claros . 2 volumes. Ed. Recherche sur les Civilizations, Paris 1992 and 2003.
- Martin Flashar : On the dating of the cult picture group of Klaros [Klaros studies I] . In: memorial for Andreas Linfert . Zabern, Mainz 1999, ISBN 3-8053-2536-3 , pp. 53-94.
- Martin Flashar: The importance of the imperial coinage of colophon for the cult image group of Klaros [Klaros studies II] . In: Boreas 21/22, 1998/99, pp. 227-239.
- Martin Flashar: Panhellenic festivals and asylum: parameters of local identity creation in Klaros and Kolophon [Klaros studies III] . In: Klio 81, 1999, pp. 413-436.
- Roland Étienne, Pierre Varène: Sanctuaire de Claros, l'architecture: les propylées et les monuments de la voie sacrée. Fouilles de Louis et Jeanne Robert and Roland Martin, 1950–1961 . Paris 2004, ISBN 2-86538-296-6 .
Web links
Coordinates: 38 ° 0 ′ 18 ″ N , 27 ° 11 ′ 35 ″ E