Ancient economic crises leaves temple unfinished

An international team of experts is examining a temple in the ancient city of Euromos, which is thought to have been left unfinished because of an economic crisis Work has started on the restoration of the Zeus Lepsynos Temple in the ancient city of Euromos, located in the western province of Mu?la's Milas district, with the Culture and Tourism Ministry and the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums as main sponsors.

A team of six from Turkey, France and Italy have been examining the temple, which is thought to have been left unfinished by its original architects because of an economic crisis.

The Director of Mu?la Cultural and Natural Heritage Preservation Board and the head of Euromos excavations, Assistant Professor Abuzer K?z?l said that 16 columns of the temple were still standing, noting that the ones overlooking the city had been decorated while nothing had been done for the ones on the south part. "This shows an economic crisis," he said. 

  
K?z?l said that works would start after the team determines the architectural blocks that collapsed because of an earthquake or other reasons. 

"First of all, we are documenting the architectural blocks one by one. The cement work that was done for restoration in 1975 by Professor Ümit Serdaro?lu will cause difficulty for us," he said. 

K?z?l said that the temple could not have been finished with the ancient city's budget, because, it "was not enough to finish the temple. The notables of the city and physicians lent a hand and built some columns. But it was not enough, either." In terms of restoration, K?z?l said his team plans to replace the columns that have collapsed due to environmental factors or other reasons, with dreams of reviving...