A Preliminary Assessment on the North Stoa of Euromos Agora

Abstract

Euromos is one of the ancient cities in Western Anatolia which has a partially well-preserved agora. The boundaries of the Hellenistic agora of Doric order have been determined by the cleaning and excavation activities carried out in recent years. The south stoa has two naves with a Doric façade colonnade and an internal Ionic colonnade. In the past two years work has been carried out in the north stoa with the financial support of Türk Tarih Kurumu (Turkish Historical Society). This paper examines the north stoa with the main aim of creating its restitution. In this context, all the preserved blocks of the stoa were unearthed, documented and drawn. Since the stylobate blocks of the agora were placed directly on the earth, they have shifted in time, creating a slightly uneven surface in some places. The local marble used in the building is of poor quality and thus shows severe deformation as a result of weather conditions. It has been understood that most of the missing building blocks were taken to the lime kiln. The lower parts of the columns are unfuted and some lower drums have remained in-situ. It is interesting that only four fragments of architrave blocks have survived. Despite this limited state of preservation, a reliable restitution plan of the stoa has been drawn with the help of existing blocks and similar examples.