Muğla Labraunda Archaeological Site

Sacred Plateau of Zeus

Labraunda

Labraunda's most important time was 4th cen­tury B.C .. Especially the years when Maussollos and ldrieus ruled Caria. Before the Hekatomnid Kingdom, the sanctuary was in the state of a local cult area consisting of an archaic temple and Sycamore Grove. The Maussollos had at first built retaining walls for new and enlarged terraces and a stone-paved road up to Mylasa. He later built a stoa and an andron building for feasts as well. ldrieus built the new Zeus Temple and the oikoi building behind it, a second andron building, the southern Propylon, and the Doric building. Many structures seen in Labraunda today date from these periods. The Hekatomnids had here transformed the opportunities given by Zeus Labraundos, the landscape and its mystical nature into splendour and political propaganda for themselves.