According to some researchers, this
substructure, which is a feature occurring only rarely in Anatolian temples, was devoted
to the cult of Meter Steunene, goddess of rocks and mountains. Meter is another name for
the Anatolian mother goddess Cybele, the epithet Steunene referring to the sacred cave
where she was worshipped. Finds in a cave two kilometres from Aizanoi show that this
goddess was worshipped in the area, tending to confirm this theory.
The temple stands on a high podium on the west bank of the Kocaçay, which
flows through the city.
Only the priests of the temple were admitted into the walled temple itself. A
huge statue of Zeus, of which no trace has been found, once stood in the celia,
or principal chamber, and would have been erected there before the doorway was built,
on account of its size.
The massive columns carved from single pieces of stone, each approximately 9 metres
in height and weighing 10-12 tons would have been carried from a great distance on
runners drawn by oxen. After the plinths were set in place the columns were heaved
into position. Then scaffolding was erected so that stonemasons could carve the
flutes which lent the columns a more graceful appearance. The composite capitals,
combining the Ionic and Corinthian styles of Roman architecture were fixed to the
summit with iron clamps. Once the 48 columns had been completed, the stone sections
of the architrave, each 5 metres in length were set over them.
Such long single-piece sections had never been used before. The pitched roof was
then constructed, and decorative finials known
as acroterium placed on the pediments and and along the sides of the roof.
The imposing acrotenum in the form of a female bust which originally crowned
the summit of the west pediment is now displayed on the ground in front of the
temple, but, but which goddess it represents remains a mystery. |
