Ancient Greek temple of Aphrodite discovered outside the city of Smyrna

A 2,500-year-old temple of Aphrodite was recently unearthed by a team of Turkish archaeologists at a dig in the Urla-Cesme peninsula of western Turkey, according to greekreporter.com.

The ancient Greek temple dedicated to the goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite, was situated just outside of the city of Izmir, or Smyrna.

The first remnants of this temple were found in 2016 after archaeologists began to conduct extensive searches over a large area measuring 1,600 square meters (17,220 square feet) in the province.

Throughout their work surveying the massive plot of land, archaeologists have found a wealth of artifacts left by the region’s ancient residents.

In total, remnants from 35 settlements from the prehistoric period, 16 of which are from the Late Neolithic period, have been discovered in the province of western Turkey.

Professor Elif Koparal from Mimar Sinan University, the head of the excavations, spoke to Turkey’s Andalou News Agency about the remarkable finds archaeologists have discovered in the region.

“During our screening of the surface, we detected the Aphrodite temple from the sixth century B.C. Aphrodite was a commonly worshiped figure back then. It is a fascinating and impressive discovery,” Koparal noted.

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