Goddess at the Crossroads

The city of Stratonicea, founded in the third century b.c. in the western Anatolian region of Caria, became a thriving center of trade and religious activity. Stratonicea included a large gymnasium, a bathhouse, colonnaded streets, and a bouleuterion, or council chamber.

As early as the second century b.c., residents of the city of Stratonicea in western Anatolia honored their patron goddess Hecate, a deity of magic and transitions, with the annual Festival of the Key. This celebration, which

Durrie Bouscaren is a journalist in Istanbul.