MUGLA, TURKEY—The Anadolu Agency reports that the 3,000-year-old ceremonial pathway between the temple of Hecate in Lagina and the town of Stratonikeia has been uncovered near the coast of western Turkey. “It is the most important sacred road that connects the political center Stratonikeia with [the] religious center Lagina,” said Bilal Sogut of Pamukkale University, who explained that priests would oversee processions on the holy road in which a girl carrying a key walked in front and a choir walked in the back. The procession entered Stratonikeia through the Northern City Gate, passing the city’s tombs along the way. “We want to exhibit the most important of the tombs in their original locations, to keep the burial traditions of the Sacred Road alive,” Sogut added. The team of excavators also uncovered the Northern City Gate and columns lining the sacred road as part of the project. For more on archaeology in Turkey, go to “In Search of a Philosopher’s Stone.”
