Korykos
A city 3.5 km W of Elaeussa. First mentioned as taken by Antiochos III from Ptolemaic control in 197 B.C., it minted autonomous coinage in the 1st c. B.C. and shared the fate of Elaeussa under the Romans until ca. A.D. 72. It was noted as a port in Roman times, and was extremely important in the Byzantine and mediaeval periods. Taken by the Turks in 1448, it slowly declined in importance as a port until the 19th c. when it was practically deserted. Its ancient name was never lost.
The scanty remains are apparently confined to two small peninsulas ca. 425 m apart and a narrow gentle slope inland from them. On the E peninsula and inland are some undescribed remains of buildings. The W peninsula is filled by a large Armenian castle and has a mole extending from it, protecting a small harbor to the W. Incorporated in the SE wall of the castle is a well-preserved single-arched Roman gateway, which led from the quay probably to a market, which may lie under the castle. East of the castle about 100 m are the foundations of two buildings, perhaps temples, with column fragments and wall blocks lying around. A line of bases, perhaps from a colonnaded street or stoa, is oriented NW-SE, about 100 m NE of the temples (?).
Inland from the city, along the ancient road from Elaeussa, and along the steep slope a little way inland is the ancient necropolis, clusters of sarcophagi and rockcut chambers, numerous inscriptions, and one conspicuous relief of a warrior with sword and spear. One grave chamber constructed of polygonal masonry may be Hellenistic or Roman; the rest of the necropolis is of the Roman and Christian periods.
The Byzantine (?) city wall can be traced in an arc from the shore 1.25 km E of the castle to the slope 375 m NW of the castle. Just S of the modern road to the E of the wall can be seen the ancient water course leading from Elaeussa and Lamus. Inside the wall and out are a number of churches, some very well preserved, of the 5th and 6th c., and one of the Armenian period. About 0.75 km S of the mainland castle and close to shore is a small island (ancient Krambusa?) with a wellpreserved Armenian castle of the 13th c., built perhaps over a Byzantine predecessor.
About 3 km from the site on an ancient road to Kambazli are two watchtowers and behind them a cluster of buildings within a wall of polygonal masonry, just above the sheer wall of the Şeytan Deresi (Verev D. or Karyagdi D.) gorge. The towers and fort (?) may be part of a Hellenistic Olban defense system, or a retreat for Korykians. Below the fort (?) are several rock-cut memorial reliefs of the Roman period and an inscription probably of the 3d c. B.C.
Five km W of Korykos, 1 km inland, is the Korykian Cave, a natural limestone pit, opening out as a cave. Above it is a Temple of Zeus, perhaps ainphiprostyle, with a peribolos wall of elegant polygonal masonry. An inscription on the temple gives a list of priests (?), the first name apparently of the late 3d or early 2d c. B.C. A myth concerning Zeus and Typhon was localized at the cave; the original Hittite or Luvian myth and cult may have been placed here as early as the 2d millennium B.C. In the mouth of the cave at the bottom is a wellpreserved chapel to the Virgin, perhaps of the 4th c. Less than a kilometer N of the cave another Temple of Zeus was reported.
BIBLIOGRAPHYV. Langlois, Voyage dans la Cilicie (1861) 197-209 (=RA 12 [1855] 129-47); J. T. Bent, “A Journey in Cilicia Tracheia,” JHS 12 (1891) 212-16; E. L. Hicks, “Inscriptions from Western Cilicia,” JHS 12 (1891) 238-58, 272; R. Heberdey & A. Wilhelm, Reisen in Kilikien, DenkschrWien, Phil-Hist. Kl. 44, 6 (1896) 67-79; E. Herzfeld & S. Guyer, Meriamlik und Korykos, MAMA II (1930) 90-189MPI; J. Keil & A. Wilhelm, Denkmäler aus dem Rauhen Kilikien, MAMA III (1931) 1 18-219PI; G. H. Forsyth, “Architectural Notes on a Trip through Cilicia,”DOPapers 11 (1957) 225fI; A. Machatschek, Die Nekropolen und Grabmäler im Gebiet von Elaiussa Sebaste und Korykos, DenkschrWien, Phil.-Hist. Kl. 96, 2 (1967) MPI; T. S. MacKay, “Olba in Rough Cilicia,” Diss. 1968 (Univ. Microfilm) Appendix E; L. Budde, Antike Mosaiken in Kilikien II (1972) 95-103MI; O. Feld, “Bericht über eine Reise durch Kilikien,” IstMitt 13-14 (1963-64) 99-107; id. & H. Weber, “Tempel und Kirche über der Korykischen Grotte,”IstMitt 17 (1968) 254-67.
T. S. MAC KAY