The Temples at Claros– Part Four

Seeing the lay of the land helps to explain the eventual demise of these temples. It was of course partly because in the fourth century A.D. Christianity had mostly won the battle against paganism, and these temples ceased to function, but it was also because in the case of the temples at Claros and the Artemis temple at Ephesos they were on flat ground which could be flooded and become marsh land.  Consider the following pictures/

To say the least, the ancients did not understand very well how diseases like malaria, or those caused by dirty water or mosquitoes were caused.  At this site, strangely when I was there, it was only parts of the Apollo complex that was under water.  The temple of Artemis seems to have been on slightly higher ground, and here are the remains.   Here it is…