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© Mark R. Fairchild

HOLY TO HERMES. Built of polygonal rather than strictly rectangular masonry, the temple of Hermes exemplifies the Hellenistic construction typical of the buildings along the central ridge at Çatiören. Above the lintel leading to the sanctuary are two reliefs of the caduceus (Hermes’ winged staff entwined by two serpents), and a 1.5-foot-high niche inside probably held a small statue of Hermes. The Greek god Hermes was the patron deity of weights and measures as well as commerce, and an inscription to the right of the doorway explains the customary payment to the temple treasury for those whose trading here prospered. Çatiören appears to have been the cult center for the important commercial port at nearby Korykos; coins minted at Korykos during the second and first centuries B.C. invariably bear the image of Hermes and the caduceus.