An ancient temple in Adana, which was built in memory of the victory of Zeus against Typhon, will be restored. The Culture and Tourism Ministry Directorate of Relief and Monuments in Adana will prepare a restoration project including the remaining parts of the temple as well as the parts that have been discovered during excavations. As the legend goes, Zeus, the ruler of the Olympians, fought against the 100-headed monster Typhon and defeated it. He tore the monster to pieces and cast him into Tartarus. Upon his victory, a temple was built to honor the god of gods. The names of 130 statesmen and men of religion were carved around the temple. The temple, dating back to the pre-Christian period of Anatolia, was demolished and converted into a church. The church was built with the original stones of the temple, which is believed to have been constructed in the fifth or fourth century B.C. The column bases of the temple have been preserved with 14 columns on its long side and eight columns on its short side. However, only the podiums and some other architectural pieces of these columns have survived to the present day. Although archaeological excavations began in 1980, the diggings stopped after a while.Although well-known historian Zosimos, who lived in around the fifth century A.D., claimed that the temple was built in the name of Apollo, the god of art and the sun, as the crops of the local people were saved from locusts by a bevy of bird sent by Apollo. There are several different views on the usage of the temple. Some say that it is a Roman temple to Jupiter, which was converted into St. Paul Church, while some claim it is a Temple of Aphrodite converted into a church in the fifth century A.D. Excavations during 1993 indicated that the remaining building might be the columned main avenue of the city. However, during the same excavations, archaeologists discovered that the temple was built on a 2-meter high platform.