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ALL TURKEY TOURS |
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INFORMATION |
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ASPENDOS;
Turning off the Antalya-Alanya , road at kilometer 30 in the
direction of the village of, Belkýs we come to the
best-preserved ancient theater in Turkey. According to
Strabo, the city of Aspendos
was founded by colonists who came from Argos under the
leadership of Mopsos. Coins minted in the 4th and 5th
centuries B.C. give the city's name as Estwediya. (Aspendos
had the distinction of being the only city besides Side that
coined money in its own name at that early period.) For a
while, the city was a member of the Athenian maritime
alliance (the Delian League). A naval battle was fought off
Aspendos in 469 B.C. during which the Persian fleet was
defeated by the forces of the Athenian general Cimon.
Despite this however we see Aspendos being used as a Persian
base in 411 B.C. With Alexander's defeat of the Persians in
334 B.C., Aspendos was freed of Persian rule.
It was ruled by various Hellenistic period kings following
the death of Alexander and like most other cities in Asia
Minor it came under Roman rule in 133 B.C. The city
particularly flourished in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. In
the 5th century the city's name was changed to Primopolis.
Aspendos was badly affected by the Arab incursions in the
8th century. The Seljuks, who arrived in the area in the
12th century , appear to have made use of some of the
ancient structures, the theater being among them.
One may approach the ruins by car as far as the theater and
we shall begin our tour there. The Aspendos theater is built
of regularly dressed blocks of conglomerate while the door
and window frames are of a cream-colored limestone. One
enters the skene through five doors, the one in the middle
on the east being larger than the other four located two on
either side.
The stage building is a two-tiered facade with four rows of
windows, each row of which is of a different form and size.
The niches contained decorative statuary. Even today the
facade has an attractive appeal. From inscriptions at the
theater we know that the structure was built during the
reign of Marcus Aurelius (161-180) by two brothers, Curtius
Crispinus and Curtius Auspicatus, to be dedicated to the
gods and the emperors. The architect's name was Zeno.
The auditorium is divided in two by a diazoma and there is a
gallery of columns surmounting the top row of seats. While
the theater appears to be built on barrel-vaulted
substructures, parts of it do rest against the hillside.
With a seating capacity of 20,000, the Aspendos theater is
still usable today.
North of the theater at the same level is the stadium. The
Aspendos stadium resembles the one at Perge: the spectator's
seats are also set on vaults.
To the south of the theater are the remains of a gymnasium
and baths now in ruins.
If we ascend to the acropolis on the hill above the theater
from the path connecting the theater and stadium we pass
through the eastern of the city's three gates into the ruins
of the city proper.
Proceeding west from this gate, we come upon a basilica,
part of which was used for government and civic affairs and
as a courthouse. Much of this section is still standing. The
triple-nave basilica extending 105 meters to the west was a
commercial building while the agora lay to its west. The
agora was surrounded by public buildings. West of the agora
is a covered marketplace measuring 70 meters in length. The
front was open consisting of a row of shops with a stoa in
front. North of the agora are the remains of a nymphaion
(fountain) of which only the facade measuring 32.50 meters
in length and 15 meters in height remains. This elaborately
decorated facade has two rows of niches.
Northwest of the fountain are the remains of the
bouleuterion, which was used as the city-state's parliament
hall. In the center of the ruin are the traces of the
foundations of a monumental arch.
At the southern end of the basilica are the remains of
exedrae, which served both as pedestals for statues and
stone benches for the public,Another of the remains worth
mentioning at Aspendos are the city's magnificent aqueducts,
parts of which are in the nearby Village and on the site of
the ruins.
These amazing structures are from Roman times and carried the city's water
down from the hills to the north. From inscriptions, we know
that they were a gift of Claudius Italicus and built in the
1st or 2nd century AD. The necropolis of Aspendos is east of
the acropolis. Thoroughly impressed by the imperial Roman
grandeur of the theater and aqueducts, we take our leave of
Aspendos.
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