Apollon Smintheion
Smintheion
Apollon Smintheion at Gülpınar in Çanakkale's Ayvacık district was a major Late Hellenistic sanctuary of the Troad, known for a temple of Apollo with Iliad reliefs and a mouse emblem.
Archaeological and historic sites
Sanctuaries in Turkey
Temples, oracle centres and rock-cut sanctuaries.
16 results
Ayatekla (Meryemlik) Archaeological Site
Meryemlik, Hagia Thekla
Ayatekla (Meryemlik) near Silifke is an early Christian pilgrimage site built around the cave where Saint Thekla is said to have taken refuge, with church, bath and cistern remains.
Çavuşin Church
Çavuşin Church is a two-storey rock-cut church beside the Göreme–Avanos road; its frescoes of 964-965 include portraits of Emperor Nicephorus Phocas and his family.
Claros
Klaros, Claros
Claros near Izmir was an oracle sanctuary of Apollo, known for the only Doric temple in Ionia, its altar, a hundred-animal tethering block and giant cult statues found in place.
Didyma (Temple of Apollo)
Didyma, Branchidai, Ioustinianopolis, Didim
The Temple of Apollo at Didyma had no roof over its heart: an open court held a sacred spring and a tiny shrine. Built for an oracle, it was never finished; a Sacred Way led to it from Miletus.
UNESCO
Göreme and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia
Göreme in Cappadocia is known for churches and monasteries cut into tuff rock; its Open Air Museum lies at the heart of the mixed World Heritage property listed in 1985.
Ihlara Valley
Peristremma
Ihlara is a roughly 14 km canyon in Aksaray's Güzelyurt district, cut by the Melendiz stream; its rock-hewn frescoed churches make it a major centre of early Christian history.
Labraunda
Labraunda, Labranda, Lambraunda, Labraynda
A Carian mountain sanctuary above Milas, reached by a paved Sacred Way: a rock split as if by lightning, the double-axe Zeus, and the marble banqueting halls of the Hekatomnid satraps.
Lagina
Lagina, Leyne
Lagina, in Yatağan district of Muğla, was a major Carian cult centre linked to Stratonikeia by a sacred road; it is known for its Temple of Hecate, monumental gate and stoas.
UNESCO
Letoon
Letoon, four kilometres south-west of Xanthos, was the Lycian federal sanctuary of Leto, Artemis and Apollo, known for three temples, partly flooded foundations and a trilingual inscription.
Midas Yazılıkaya
Midas City, Yazılıkaya
Midas Yazılıkaya, in Han district of Eskişehir, was the religious heart of Highland Phrygia, famed for rock-cut facades, altars and the Midas Monument.
Monastery Valley (Selime)
Monastery Valley in Güzelyurt, Aksaray, is lined with rock-cut churches and likened to a smaller Ihlara; nearby Selime Cathedral is the largest cathedral complex in Cappadocia.