Aphrodisias Ancient City – Karacasu, Aydın
The ancient city of Aphrodisias lies near the modern village of Geyre in the district of Karacasu (Aydın province), in the upper valley of the Morsynus River (modern Dandalaz Çayı), on a high plateau about 600 m above sea level. It belonged to the historical region of Caria in southwestern Anatolia and controlled a fertile inland basin with direct access to nearby marble quarries, which provided the economic backbone of the city.
(Source: UNESCO – Aphrodisias
Aydın Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism – Afrodisias)
The site was occupied from prehistoric times, but Aphrodisias emerged as a city and sanctuary in the Hellenistic period and reached its peak in the Roman Imperial era. It was named after the goddess Aphrodite, whose sanctuary made the city a major cult center; in Roman times Aphrodisias also became the metropolis (provincial capital) of Caria. The prosperity of the city derived from its nearby marble quarries and the products of its renowned school of sculpture, which supplied high-quality statues and architectural decoration across the Roman world.
(Source: UNESCO – Aphrodisias
Wikipedia – Aphrodisias)
After the spread of Christianity, the Temple of Aphrodite was converted into a basilica church, and by the 7th century the city’s name was officially changed to Stauropolis (“City of the Cross”) to remove its pagan associations. Earthquakes and political upheavals in Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages reduced the city to a smaller fortified settlement around the theatre, and over time the medieval and early modern village of Geyre grew on top of the ancient ruins. In 2017, Aphrodisias – including its marble quarries – was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List for its outstanding testimony to ancient urban planning, sculpture and religious life.
(Source: UNESCO – Aphrodisias
Turkish Archaeological News – Aphrodisias)
Systematic excavations began in the early 1960s under Kenan Erim and have continued ever since under the auspices of New York University and, more recently, in collaboration with Oxford University, with strong support from the Geyre Foundation. The excavated monuments and their associated sculptures and inscriptions provide an exceptionally detailed picture of the social, political and visual culture of a Greek–Roman city and its transformation in Late Antiquity.
(Source: Bilkent University – Aphrodisias Excavations
Geyre Foundation – Afrodisias Hakkında)
Key monuments at Aphrodisias include:
- The Temple of Aphrodite, later converted into a Christian basilica.
- The Tetrapylon, a richly ornamented four-way monumental gate that formed the ceremonial entrance to the sanctuary.
- The Stadium, measuring roughly 270 × 60 m with an estimated capacity of around 30,000 spectators, one of the best-preserved ancient stadiums in the Mediterranean.
- The Theatre, Agora, Baths, Sebasteion (Augustan cult complex), and Bouleuterion (Council House), along with colonnaded streets and monumental gates.
- The on-site Aphrodisias Museum, which houses an outstanding collection of statues, reliefs and inscriptions, many of them found in situ.
(Source: Wikipedia – Aphrodisias – Buildings and structures
Turkish Archaeological News – Aphrodisias
Turkey Tour Organizer – Aphrodisias: Sculpture Capital of the Roman World)
Today, visitors to Aphrodisias can walk among well-preserved ruins, explore the museum’s sculptural masterpieces, and experience the unique combination of a rural Anatolian landscape with the remains of a once-flourishing marble city devoted to Aphrodite, imperial power and, later, Christian worship.
(Source: World Heritage Site – Aphrodisias
Turkish Archaeological News – Aphrodisias)