In the ancient city of Limyra in southern Türkiye, archaeologists have discovered a portion of a long-lost Temple of Zeus, the existence of which has been known from epigraphic sources since 1982, though its precise location had remained unknown until now.
The excavation, carried out in cooperation with the Austrian Archaeological Institute and led by Associate Professor Kudret Sezgin, revealed the temple in the western section of the site in Antalya’s Finike district. Limyra, one of eastern Lycia’s key cities, sits at the foot of Mount Toçak and is known for its rock-cut tombs, monumental structures and theater.
Sezgin said archaeological evidence shows the earliest urbanization in Limyra dates back 2,400 years, noting that Lycian King Pericles undertook major construction projects in the city. He added that the new discovery came during the team’s first season working under the site’s new coordination.
“We found the temple structure that has been known from epigraphic sources since 1982 but whose location could not be identified for years,” Sezgin said. “Archaeological data indicate that the building is the Zeus Temple constructed in the classical period. We know clearly from written sources that Zeus was the city’s chief deity in the Hellenistic and Roman Imperial periods. It was known that there was a temple but not where it stood.”
The team uncovered the temple’s eastern façade, including its main entrance and anta walls. The front measures 15 meters wide. Sezgin said a Byzantine fortification wall was later built over the temple and that the sacred chamber now lies under a privately owned orange grove. Excavations will continue once expropriation is completed.
Ceramics found at the temple show that settlement in the area dates back 5,000 years. The discovery also prompted a new evaluation of Limyra’s urban layout. Sezgin said the monumental gate previously identified under the Roman Street likely served as the propylon, or main entrance, to the temple’s sacred precinct, and that the wall long described as a Hellenistic fortification was actually the temple’s boundary wall.
