Aphrodisias

Although the history of Geyre (Aphrodisias) stretches back in time, the city, which was
dedicated to Aphrodite, goddess of love and fertility, rose to prominence in the first century B.C.

Some of the richest treasures of ancient times were uncovered in the excavations of this city.
The public buildings are handsomely adorned with marble that was carved with astonishing skill,
producing remarkable temples, monuments, baths, a theatre and a magnificent stadium.

The reputation of the city's craftsmen for the exquisite finesse of their statuary and marble
sculpting spread through the civilised world, and Aphrodisias became the center of the greatest
sculpti g school of antiquity.

Many of its marvellous works of art are now housed in the local museum. The theatre and
bouleuterion are among the city's best-preserved ruins.

About 35 kilometres east of Aydın lies Sultanhisar, host to an Art and Culture Festival every
spring. Nearby, in the quiet of the olive trees, are the ruins of ancient Nysa, famous in the
second century A.D. as an educational centre Although the history of Geyre (Aphrodisias)
stretches back in time, the city, which was dedicated to Aphrodite, goddess of love and fertility,
rose to prominence in the first century B.C. Some of the richest treasures of ancient times were
uncovered in the excavations of this city.

Afrodisias
Aydın'ın Karacasu ilçesi yakınlarında bir antik kenttir. Tanrıça Afrodit adına
kurulmuştur. Tunç çağından Bizans dönemine değin (M.Ö. 2800 - M.S. 220) büyük bir yerleşim
merkeziydi. Arkeolojik kazılarda Afrodit tapınağı, odeon, stadium ve agorası, hamamları gün
ışığına çıkarılmıştır.
Afrodisias, İlkçağ'da önemli bir heykel yapım merkezi olarak tanınmıştır. Anadolu
antik kentleri içinde Afrodisias'ın stadyumu iyi korunmuş stadyumlar arasındadır. Afrodisias
Aydın'ın Karacasu ilçesi yakınlarında bir antik kenttir.Tanrıça Afrodit adına kurulmuştur. Tunç
çağından Bizans dönemine değin (M.Ö. 2800 - M.S. 220) büyük bir yerleşim merkeziydi.
Arkeolojik kazılarda Afrodit tapınağı, odeon, stadium ve agorası, hamamları gün ışığına
çıkarılmıştır. Afrodisias, İlkçağ'da önemli bir heykel yapım merkezi olarak tanınmıştır. Anadolu
antik kentleri içinde Afrodisias'ın stadyumu iyi korunmuş stadyumlar arasındadır.

GEYRE (APHRODISIAS);
Imagine coming upon a city of antiquity so rich in archeological treasure That choice
sculptures roll off the sides of ditches, tumble from old walls, and lie jam-packed amid
colonnaded ruins." Those are the words of Turkish archeologist Professor Kenan Erim
who directed the excavations at Aphrodisias under the auspices of the New York
University. He is so closely associated with the site That he can suitably be accepted as
the father of Aphrodisias and therefore fully deserved to be buried near the Tetrapylon.

The name of the city has the same root as "aphrodisiac". Both words derive from the
Greek name for the goddess of love, Aphrodite. Aphrodisias was one of several ancient
cities dedicated to the goddess of love. Within the borders of Caria, during the Roman
period, Aphrodisias became an artistic center with a famous school of sculpture. The
site has been systematically excavatsince 1961 by professor Kenan Erim and has
yielded a wealth of art treasures to archaeologists. Names of many sculptors from
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Aphrodisias have been seen in lots of works in Italy, Greece and elsewhere. Fame of
Aphrodisias is not only limited to arts. It also had a number of renowned scholars and
writers as well as philosophers, of whom the most notable was Xenocrates.

School of Sculpture
Statues were carved from the local white, grayish blue Carian marble, mostly from
Babadag (Salbakos), 2,308 m / 7,572 ft high nearby mountain. Sculptors from other
areas came to Aphrodisias for annual sculpture competitions. The eyes of the statues
found here are full of expression and vitality and the bodies seem capable of moving.
The public monuments in Aphrodisias were decorated with "peopled scrolls" which were
one of the characteristics of stone carving produced by the school of sculpture in

Aphrodisias.
History of Aphrodisias
Excavations in the 24-meter-high (78 ft) theater hill have revealed layers of settlement
going back to the Bronze Age (c. 2800-2200 B.C.)
It was founded in the 5 C B.C. and flourished under the Roman Empire (1C BC-5C AD).
Mark Antony recognized the autonomy of Aphrodisias in the 1C BC. In the Byzantine
period it was first the seat of an archbishopric, then of the metropolitan of Caria. In the
6C AD the name of Aphrodisias was changed to Stavropolis, the city of the Cross, to
erase the pagan goddess of love from people’s minds. As the capital of Caria
Aphrodisias was finally called Caria which then became Geyre in Turkish. Later in the 13
C it was abandoned.

The Site
The Tetrapylon is a monumental gateway which was probably built in the 2C AD during
the reign of Hadrian. It had 4 rows of 4 columns. It is thought to have marked the
intersection of a major street with a sacred way heading toward the sanctuary of
Aphrodite.

The Stadium is one of the best preserved stadia in Anatolia. It is 262 m / 286 yards
long, 59 m / 64 yards wide with 22 rows of seats with a 30,000 spectator capacity.
Originally it had a blind arcade on top of the highest row surrounding all the seats. The
stadium was used for sporting, musical and dramatic events. The eastern part of the
arena was for gladiatorial fights.

The Temple of Aphrodite, a late Hellenistic building, was originally designed as an Ionic
temple with 40 columns arranged in an 8 by 13 rectangle. It was converted into a
church in the Byzantine period. The columns at each end were removed, an apse was
built in the eastern section, and a baptistery and an atrium were added to the west.

The affinities between Aphrodite and Ishtar are generally well-recognized. In

Mesopotamian mythology, Ishtar was the principal goddess of the Babylonians and
Assyrians. She was both the compassionate mother of all life, who brought fertility and
relief from sickness, and the lustful goddess of sexual love and war.

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Life in the city was concentrated around the Temple of Aphrodite. The cult of Aphrodite
was so popular That it took some time before Christianity was fully accepted by
Aphrodisians.
The Bishop’s Residence consisted of halls and rooms, is thought to have been the
residence of the bishop of Aphrodisias in early Byzantine times. Its large audience
chamber was typical of a governor’s residence in Roman provinces.

The Odeon is a semicircular building and has 12 tiered rows of seats with lions’ feet. It
actually had more rows of seats and was once roofed. The seating capacity was 1,700.
A corridor at the back of the stage led to a porticoed area which was adorned with the
statues of important Aphrodisians and was connected to the agora. The south-west
corner of the portico of Tiberius is a long and narrow 1C AD basilica, an administrative
and an official building of importance.

The Baths of Hadrian were built under Hadrian in the 2C AD. There were two pairs of
large rooms on either side of a huge central hall called the caldarium.
Building of the Portico of Tiberius, whose Ionic colonnade has partially been restored,
was started during the reign of Tiberius, 1C AD which explains why it was named after
him. The central area of the portico is occupied by a huge basin or pool, 175 m / 574 ft
long, 25 m / 82 ft wide and 1 m / 3.28 ft deep with two semicircular extremities at the
north and east ends. The portico may well have been a gymnasium or a palaestra with
an exercise area between the colonnade and the pool.

The Theater was built in the late Hellenistic period and later restored in the 1C BC, and
according to its inscription it was dedicated to Aphrodite and the people of the city by
Julius Zoilos, a former slave of Octavian. The seating capacity was 8,000. The stage
building consisted of six vaulted dressing or storage rooms out of which four opened
into the corridor behind the proskene.
The stage building wall in the north parados had Greek inscriptions of important
documents related to the history of the city such as letters of emperors to the city or
senatorial decrees. The orchestra and the stage building were restored in the 2C AD in
order to make the building more suitable for animal or gladiatorial fights. The theater
was seriously damaged in the 7C, and the Byzantines built houses on top of the cavea
and converted the hill into a fortress by circling it with walls and towers.
The Tetrastoon, originally surrounded by four (tetra) colonnades on all sides with a
round fountain in the center, had several functions in the Roman and Byzantine city.
First it was a meeting place for the citizens and also by having surrounding small shops
served as a market place. Finally it gave access

APHRODISIAS
Aphrodisias stands on a low plateau under Baba Dag, the mountain where the
marble for its buildings was quarried. The site is under excavation and
reconstruction, and many sections are roped off to prevent visitors from entering,
nevertheless, there is much of great interest to see. From the car park entrance
ticket (fee 5,OOOTL plus 5,OOOTL for the museum), a short roadway leads into a
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square that was the village of Geyre until this was demolished and the inhabitants
transplanted to a new village of Geyre nearby. On the left of the square is a cafe
and a reconstructed timbered building, and on the right, on the northeast comer, is
the museum.
Take the path to the left just below the cafil A columned structure is next to a
Byzantine chapel with a number of sarcophagi. There are many of these stone
coffins off the approach road to the square, and perhaps the line of the city's walls
was there, with the tombs outside the walls. The pathway skirts the headquarters
and workshops of the archaeological expedition to reach the theater. The area is
roped, but you can still climb the hill to enter the theater at the level of its
uppermost tiers, and then look down to the columned facade, dressing rooms,
proscenium (stage) and orchestra. in front is a paved court with a stoa and a
circular altar, a gymnasium and, on the right-hand side, a columned temple or
basilica with an ornamental gateway. What could be a second agora is there, too.
All this makes an impressive view from above.

The area on the right of the theater, as you descend, is also roped, where a large
and lengthy main agora is under excavation and reconstruction. You move on
round to another portico, that of Tiberius, to the area of Hadrian's Baths, a
complex that includes a gymnasium, a palaestra (exercise ground) and a
columned pool or ornamental fountain. The tiled court of the palaestra has a
number of tiles inscribed in Greek.