Skip to content
Claros
EntityQ1933754· pop 19· linked from 1,521 articles

Also known as Oracle of Claros

Claros (; , Klaros; ) was an ancient Greek sanctuary on the coast of Ionia. It contained a temple and oracle of Apollo, honored here as Apollo Clarius. It was located in the territory of Colophon, which lay twelve kilometers to the north, one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League. The coastal city Notion lay two kilometers to the south. The ruins of the sanctuary are now found north of the modern town Ahmetbeyli in the Menderes district of İzmir Province, Turkey.

Weather now

cached 492h ago
28°clear sky
20% 6.6 m/s OpenWeatherMap

7-day forecast

via Open-Meteo

Place details

Locality
Menderes
Region
İzmir Province
Country
Türkiye
Population
0

via OpenStreetMap · GeoNames

Key facts

Ancient site.caption
The Temple of Apollo at Claros
Ancient site.name
Claros
Ancient site.native_name
Κλάρος Clarus
Ancient site.image
Klaros01.jpg
Ancient site.image_size
270px
Ancient site.map_type
Turkey
Ancient site.map_size
270
Ancient site.location
Ahmetbeyli, İzmir Province, Turkey
Ancient site.region
Ionia
Ancient site.type
Sanctuary
Ancient site.dependency_of
Colophon
Ancient site.condition
Ruined
Ancient site.ownership
Public
Ancient site.public_access
Yes

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Image
Klaros01.jpg
Show 1 more fact
Commons category
Klaros
Sources (2)

via Wikidata · CC0

~9 min read

Article

8 sections
Contents
  • History
  • Materials and source
  • Foundation
  • Hellenistic period
  • Roman period
  • Excavations
  • References
  • External links

Claros (; , Klaros; ) was an ancient Greek sanctuary on the coast of Ionia. It contained a temple and oracle of Apollo, honored here as Apollo Clarius. It was located in the territory of Colophon, which lay twelve kilometers to the north, one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League. The coastal city Notion lay two kilometers to the south. The ruins of the sanctuary are now found north of the modern town Ahmetbeyli in the Menderes district of İzmir Province, Turkey.

The Temple of Apollo at Claros was a very important center of prophecy, as in Delphi and Didyma. The oldest literary information about this sacred site goes back to the sixth and seventh centuries BC, through the Homeric Hymns, though Proto-Geometric pottery at the site betokens 9th century occupation. A sacred cave near the Temple of Apollo, which was an important place both in the Hellenistic and Roman eras, points to the existence of a Cybele cult in early periods here. Games called the Claria were held at Claros every fifth year in honor of Apollo.

Gallery (2)

On the map

2 mapped locations

Connections

Categories