From beneath the earth and water into the light: over a century of excavation, conservation, and the re-raising of columns.
What hid Klaros for centuries also protected it: the alluvium of the Ales stream and the rising groundwater. Excavation was therefore carried out with extensive water drainage and special engineering solutions.
Today the monumental statues, the altars and one of the richest collections of inscriptions in the ancient world meet visitors once again.
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Theodor Macridy and the French archaeologist Charles Picard carry out the first scientific excavation, uncovering the Hellenistic gateway (Propylon), the great exedra and 125 inscriptions recording the envoys sent by the cities. Macridy had located the sanctuary in 1907 from the weathered surface of the single surviving column.
Louis and Jeanne Robert, together with the architect Roland Martin, bring to light the standing Hellenistic temple of Apollo Klarios, the monumental cult statues of Apollo, Artemis and Leto, a sundial and a marble seat.
The early and late Archaic and Hellenistic altars dedicated to Apollo and Artemis are uncovered, together with their offerings of bronze, gold, amber and terracotta.
Under the direction of Ege University, a high-footed Mycenaean kylix found in 2008 proves that Klaros is older than Delphi and is the oldest known oracle of the ancient world. On 12 September 2011, Turkey's first cast archaeopark opens.
Under the direction of the Selçuk Ephesus Museum, with the scientific advice of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Onur Zunal, the Katagogeion and the Roman Structure Unit are excavated, and work begins on the conservation and on-site display of the colossal cult statues.
Under the excavation directorship of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Onur Zunal, the sixth season of excavations is under way.
Excavations ongoing since 1913: the temple, altars, colossal cult statues and one of the widest bodies of inscriptions in the ancient world, brought to light from beneath earth and water.
From temple to altar, from statues to inscriptions.
Begun in the Hellenistic age and never fully completed, the monumental temple dominated the valley with its colossal columns.
A seated Apollo holding his lyre, flanked by standing figures of Artemis and Leto; the three statues, standing over eight metres tall, are among the rare surviving examples of ancient temple sculpture.
Four rows of iron rings set in stone blocks reveal a system in which nearly a hundred animals could be sacrificed at once: the only known example of its kind preserved at this scale.
Hundreds of dedications carved on columns, steps and benches: the millennia-old testimony of delegations and pilgrims from distant cities.
