18 Ancient Cities You Must See in Türkiye

Say “ancient city” and I think most people think of Ephesus. Those who have seen it are full of admiration; those who have not yet been picture a friend’s Facebook photo taken in the theatre.

Yet the Ministry of Culture lists 77 ancient cities in Türkiye as immovable cultural property, and with those not on the list the number is around 100.

Almost all of the ancient Greek cities have one thing in common: a theatre. If you go, you will see how even a small stone on the ground can draw you into history.

1. Ephesus

Let’s start with Ephesus, which everyone knows. The ancient city of Ephesus, in the Selçuk district of İzmir, was first founded around 6000 BC. Ephesus had its most magnificent periods in the Hellenistic and Roman eras, when, as the capital and largest port city of the Province of Asia, it had a population of 200,000. The Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the world, stood within the ancient city.

2. Aizanoi

It lies in the Çavdarhisar district, 57 km from the centre of Kütahya. The city had its brightest period in the second and third centuries and became a bishopric in the Byzantine period. It has the best-preserved temple in Anatolia, built for Zeus. There is also a large theatre with an adjoining stadium, two baths (one with mosaics) and a gymnasium, five bridges over the Kocaçay, two of them still in use, an ancient dam, the exchange building, colonnaded streets, necropolises and the sacred cave of Meter Steunene.

3. Pergamon

Pergamon is the name of the ancient city on the site of today’s town centre of Bergama in the province of İzmir. Between the northwest of Pergamon and the Bergama stream lies the Roman settlement, which had an amphitheatre for 50,000 people and a theatre for 30,000. The remains known today as Viran Kapı are the surviving arch of the theatre. The ruins of the city were found in the 1870s by Carl Humann, a German engineer working on the railway in western Anatolia.

4. Magnesia

Magnesia on the Maeander lies within the boundaries of Tekin village, Ortaklar, in the Germencik district of Aydın, on the Ortaklar–Söke road. Finds from Magnesia are displayed in museums in Paris, Berlin and Istanbul.

5. Priene

Priene is near the town of Güllübahçe in Aydın. Its founding is thought to go back to the 2nd millennium BC. Priene is the finest example of ancient town planning: the city was built on the “grid system” developed by the architect Hippodamus of Miletus.

6. Miletus

Miletus lies within the Söke district of Aydın, 30 km from Söke, near Akköy. Miletus was founded as a port city, but because the harbour silted up with alluvium carried by the Büyük Menderes (Maeander) river, it now lies inland. Its important buildings include the Roman theatre, which holds 15,000 people and has been under repair in recent years, the Roman baths built in the 1st century AD, the Delphinion, the main religious centre, the North Agora, the Ionic Stoa of the 1st century AD, the Baths of Capito, the gymnasium, the bouleuterion built in the 2nd century, the 164 x 196 m South Agora and the Baths of Faustina, built in the 2nd century AD.

7. Zeugma

is an ancient city founded around 300 BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great’s generals. Today it lies at the foot of Belkıs village, 10 km from the Nizip district of Gaziantep. It is famous for the mosaic of the “Gypsy Girl”, and the city has a great many mosaics.

In the excavations the city was studied in three parts, A, B and C. Parts A and B, with the city’s villas and markets, now lie under the reservoir of the Birecik hydroelectric dam. An open-air museum is planned in the future in part C, which has not yet been excavated. The ancient city is world famous for its Roman mosaics, and the Zeugma Mosaic Museum is well worth a visit.

8. Myra

Famous for its striking rock tombs, Myra lies in the Kale (Demre) district of Antalya between Kaş and Finike and is the birthplace of Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas. Myra’s magnificent theatre has survived in very good condition. Built on the slope of the steep mountain behind it, its cavea is largely carved out of the rock, and the theatre was later used as an arena too. Myra’s famous rock tombs are clustered in two places: just above the theatre, and in the so-called river necropolis on the east side.

9. Aphrodisias

There are many ancient cities called Aphrodisias, but the most famous is the one in Karacasu, Aydın. It is said to have been discovered when Türkiye’s most famous photographer, Ara Güler, happened to lose his way in the area.

10. Hierapolis

An ancient city near Pamukkale. Thanks to Pamukkale’s thermal waters (the

), also used for healing, it has drawn visitors throughout history. Its theatre seats 9,500.

11. Hattusa

The site of Hattusa (Hattuşaş) lies 82 km southwest of Çorum. The Treaty of Kadesh, known to us as the world’s first written peace treaty, was made at Hattusa.

12. Xanthos

An ancient city at kilometre 70 of the Fethiye–Kaş road. The remains of this city, which saw many historic events and wars, include rock tombs, sarcophagi and the pillar tombs typical of Lycian culture. The Lycian acropolis is among its early works. The theatre, repaired many times, and a church from the early Christian period are also worth seeing.

13. Alacahöyük

Alacahöyük lies 45 km south of Çorum and 17 km northwest of the Alaca district. Finds from Alacahöyük are displayed at the Museum of Anatolian Civilisations in Ankara and at the Alacahöyük Museum, opened in 1941. The area covering Alacahöyük and Boğazköy was declared a national park in 1988.

14. Aspendos

Founded beside the Köprüçay river, Aspendos is world famous for its magnificent ancient theatre. Thousands of Turkish and foreign visitors tour Aspendos every year. The ancient

theatre

is still used for concerts and events.

15. Laodicea

It lies 6 km north of Denizli. Its theatre could hold about 20,000 people.

16. Knidos

An ancient city in the Datça district of Muğla. Knidos was very advanced in science, architecture and art. The great astronomer and mathematician Eudoxus, the physician Euryphon, the famous painter Polygnotus and Sostratus, architect of the Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the seven wonders of the world, lived here.

17. Phaselis

The ancient city of Phaselis lies in the forest at Tekirova village, 35 km from Antalya. Its ruins line both sides of the main street that links the military harbour with the southern harbour. The main street, 125 m long and 20–25 m wide, has pavements three steps high on each side. Halfway along, the street opens into a square before reaching the southern harbour. Beneath this neatly paved street there is a sewer and drainage system.

18. Çatalhöyük

Çatalhöyük lies within the Çumra district of Konya, 10 km east of the town. With its unique finds from the first settlements, the first house architecture and the first sacred buildings, it sheds light on human history.

Source: https://onedio.com