SAGALASSOS A Roman Legend…
historical setting
This photo was taken from the theatre building. The students
are exploring the site.
The first traces of human presence in the territory of Sagalassos consist
of hunting or flint producing campsites dating back to the Epipalaeolithic (ca. 12,000 BP).
They belonged to hunter-gatherers who probably ventured from the coastal areas inland following the Kestros River (Aksu) in search for
game and flint. At the beginning of the Holocene, during the late 9th
millennium BC, climatic improvement resulted in the
spreading of woodland in the region. The presence of woodland
provided settlers practicing a mixed farming and hunter-gatherer economy ideal
conditions for farming, animal breeding and hunting, which
eventually resulted in the emergence of permanent
settlements along the borders of Lake Burdur. Yet, farming and
animal husbandry did not affect all communities simultaneously and groups of hunter-gatherers must have coexisted besides societies
practicing farming, herding or both.
Situation
Image 10 Image 10 of 10
Antonine Nymphaeum (Fountain)
Roman Heroon from the Augustan period
The archaeological site of Sagalassos is located in South-West Turkey, near the
present town of Ağlasun (Burdur province), roughly 110 km to the north of Antalya
(ancient Attalia). Sagalassos is set in the western part of the Taurus mountain range which is bordered to the north by the high
Anatolian plateau, while to the south it touches the Mediterranean. In ancient
times, this region was known as Pisidia. The town, which is laid out on south-facing terraces at altitudes between 1450 and
1600 m, is crowned by a steep, and today barren, limestone range of about 1800 m
high, extending in the east to the peaks of the formidable Akdağ (2271 m). The
transition between a layer of limestone on top of less permeable ophiolitic and flyish
deposits at this place resulted in advantageous hydrological conditions in
which several permanent springs are situated. The inland position and
mountainous character of Pisidia make the Oro-Mediterranean climatic regime more pronounced in this region, where summers are short, hot and mainly dry and winters
colder and wetter than those in the coastal regions.
ITS LOCATION IN TURKIYE
Our
Town The Ancient
City of
Sagalassos
location
Ancient city map
why did people settle on this
mountain slope?
Grand Colonnaded Street
who lived here, when?
Theatre
how did they make a living?
Imperial Bath
when did they leave and why?
Theatre under snow
A view of Sagalassos
from the top of the hill
how was the site rediscovered ?
Bouleuterion (Council Hall)
Doric Temple
The ruins of the site were rediscovered in 1706 by a French traveller, Paul Lucas, who at the request of the French King Louis XIV undertook
a travel in the Ottoman Empire. Yet it took until 1824 before the English reverend F.V.J.Arundell deciphered the
name of Sagalassos in a local inscription.
What does the name Sagalassos mean? Does it have a connection with Ağlasun? (the district is called Ağlasun now)
Library building
Library building (inside)
Sagalassos is a typical Luwian name. However, its meaning is not known. Ağlasun is derived from the name Agalassu recorded as
early as the 11th century AD, when one bishop of the city was called ‘Bishop of Agalassu’. The Seljukid Turks living in Ağlasun adopted and
adapted the name for their site in the valley below the ancient city. Thus, there is a clear connection between the two names.
THE CENTRAL VOCATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL OF TRADE,
BURDUR TURKIYE / E - TWINNING PROJECT GROUP
ANCIENT ROME IN YOUR MODERN
TOWN DECEMBER 2011
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