Kesik Minare Temple
About
Builders raised this Corinthian temple in Attaleia around 130 CE, the same year Hadrian's Gate went up to mark the emperor's tour of the city. Byzantine Christians later converted it into a church for the Virgin Mary, and Seljuk Turks topped it with a minaret that eventually snapped off in a storm, giving the ruin its modern name, the Broken Minaret. Its original dedication is disputed, with some accounts linking it to Serapis. Like the nearby Hadrian's Gate, it postdates Trajan's death by over a decade and had not been built on 11 August 117 CE.
What happened here
The building itself is a house for the god, and most people never go inside. Everything public happens on the steps and at the altar in front: an animal led up, examined, killed cleanly, its organs read, the meat divided and eaten. The priest covers his head and a flute player keeps up a noise so no ill-omened word is heard. Worshippers leave what they can afford — a terracotta figure, a coin, a model of the body part they want healed — and the accumulated clutter is periodically cleared and buried on site. On festival days the doors are opened and the cult statue is dressed, garlanded, and sometimes carried out through the streets. The temple also holds money, which is why towns keep their treasury in one.
Sources
Nearby
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Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →