At Klaros, time flows backwards.

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Today

Excavation — Klaros re-emerging after centuries.

4th c. CE

Silence

The rise of Christianity and the alluvium of the Ales stream cover the sanctuary.

2nd–3rd c. CE

Roman grandeur

The oracle lives its golden age; visitors come from across the Mediterranean.

3rd–2nd c. BCE

Hellenistic temple

The monumental Temple of Apollo Klarios and the colossal cult statues rise.

13th c. BCE

Foundation

The moment it all began: the prophecy of Manto and her son Mopsus.

A sacred place that whispers echoes of the past.

Klaros, where kings and envoys once came in search of answers, is still a singular sanctuary that whispers the traces of the past. On a journey that runs from torch-lit night rites to the sacred spring, from magnificent temples to millennia-old inscriptions, discover one of the most mysterious oracles of the ancient world.

The heart of prophecy: Klaros

Located in the Ahmetbeyli Valley in the Menderes district of Izmir, Klaros was the sanctuary of Colophon and an oracle dedicated to Apollo Klarios.

One of the three great oracles of antiquity alongside Delphi and Didyma, Klaros is — as Mycenaean-era finds attest — the oldest known oracle. Delegations from across the Mediterranean would hear the oracles believed to be conveyed by Apollo, through a seer who had drunk from the sacred spring after sunset.

Chronology

Klaros through the ages

The rise of an oracle stretching from Proto-Geometric pottery to Roman grandeur, and its sinking into silence beneath the alluvium.

10th–8th c. BCE

First traces

Pottery found between the altar and the temple shows the valley's sacred role reaches back to the Proto-Geometric age.

7th–6th c. BCE

The oracle is born

The cult of Apollo Klarios is established; first a round, then a great rectangular altar is built.

3rd c. BCE

Hellenistic temple

A monumental Doric temple and a labyrinthine adyton rise, with colossal statues of Apollo, Artemis and Leto.

2nd–3rd c. CE

Roman grandeur

The oracle rivals Delphi and Didyma, with delegations from across the Mediterranean.

4th c. CE onward

Silence

The spread of Christianity and the alluvium of the Ales stream bury the sanctuary for centuries.

The oracle

How the voice of the god was heard

After sunset, by torchlight; the underground labyrinth and the sacred spring.

Adyton

Descent into darkness

While the delegate representing the city waited above, only the seer descended into the underground chamber of narrow, vaulted passages.

Sacred spring

Drinking the water

According to Pliny, the priest who drank from the sacred spring gained the gift of prophecy, but paid for it with his years.

Torchlight

The night rite

After sunset, in the flickering light of torches; according to Pausanias, the oracles were given through a mysterious rite on days dedicated to Hecate-Artemis.