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Aphrodisias had suffered from major earthquakes too, but she seemed still alive to me ;  with it’s sculptures looking right in your eye, with the green meadows,  the pomegranate trees, the fig trees. But Laodicea must have faced  the  mother of all earthquakes. It was all stone, from one end to other, on top of each other and side by side. Life had stopped here.

Afrodisiyas’da büyük depremler geçirmişti, ama bana hala canlı gibi gelmişti. Gözünüzün içine bakan heykelleri, yeşil çayırları, nar ağaçları, incir ağaçları ile . Ama Laodikya sanki depremlerin anasını görmüştü. Bir baştan diğer başa her yer taştı, taş taş üstünde, ya da yan yana. Burada hayat durmuştu.

Cem Özmeral

October 12,2018

The ancient city of Laodicea is situated  6 km. from  the province of Denizli by the districts of Eskihisar, Goncalı, and Bozburun. The city finds itself on the fertile plains of Lycos on a high plateau surrounded on three  sides by rivers. The name Laodicea stems from Laodike, the wife of the Syrian King Antiochus II.,  who during the Hellenic times ruled in this region. In the year 130 B.C. the city became a part of the Roman Empire. Laodicea was hit by many earthquakes during its history and rebuilt several times over and over.  After the earthquake during the reign of of King Phocas the city was completely abandoned and relocated to Denizli  to Kaleici and Hisarkoy districts. During the early Byzantine times it became a metropole of religious thinking. Situated on the crossroads  its main source of income was derived from trade; mainly from textiles, agriculture, livestock and, marble trade.

The city was laid on a grid plan with broad main streets parallel  to each other and side streets crossing them in perpendicular angles. It is  built on an area, approximately 5 sq.km. and embodies the biggest ancient stadium of Anatolia, two theaters, four baths, five agoras, five fountains, two city gates,  a boulterian, temples and churches and is  surrounded  on all sides  with necropolis ( cemeteries).

The Sacred Pilgrimage  Church of Laodikeia is one of the “Seven Churches” of Anatolia mentioned in the bible which were revealed to apostle John.

In the meantime Apostle John writing his own Gospel,

There God revealed himself to John and wanted him to “ write what you have seen, what is and what is to take place after this” (Rev 1:19-20) He also asked him to send what he wrote the Seven Churches listed one by one in name: “...Write in a book what you see and send it to seven churches, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia and to Laodicea”. (Rev 1:11)

All of these Seven Churches which are within Turkey’s borders are known as the first churches of Christianity.

The Sacred Pilgrimage Church (The central Church) of Laodicea was built during the reign of Constantine the Great when he adopted Christianity as the religion of his  Byzantine Empire. The church is situated at the intersection of the Syrian street and the broad street which curves to the North Theater. The building has eleven apsides, one facing the east direction, five facing South and, five facing North. You can enter the church through two doors, one in the North and the other one in the South. The northern and southern side rooms (Nef) of the main hall Naos are decorated with ceramics with geometric plant designs, while the middle side room floors has marble tiles. The Baptism Chamber has a pool ornamented with a cross.

Among the two theaters in Laodicea, the Western Theater was built during the Hellenistic times 2200 years ago. It has a diameter of 94 meters and a capacity of 15 000  spectators, while the theater in North was built later during the Roman times and has a diameter of 124 meters and a capacity of 20 000 people. The Western Theater is being restored under the supervision of University of Pamukkale Department of Archaeology with collaboration of the Turkish Ministry of tourism.

One of the striking things of the ancient city is the remains of the water distribution and aqueduct system visible especially at the South Baths and by the stadium.The water was carried from the Baspinar spring about 7 km. away, but instead of the common system of open channel of water being  carried above the level of the city on arches, an inverted siphon was used consisting of a double pressurised pipeline, descending into the valley and back up to the city. Walking on the Street of Colonnades one will notice that the city had  a superb system of  rainwater drainage system under the stone blocks covering the street.

Laodicea daki iki tiyatro dan  Batı Tiyatrosu Helenistik devirde  bundan 2200 yıl önce yapılmış, 94 metre çapı var ve 15.000 seyirci kapasiteli. Daha sonra Romalılar devrinde yapılan Kuzey Tiyatrosu ise 124 metre çapı ve 20.000 seyirci  kapasitesi ile daha büyük. Batı tiyatrosu Pamukkale Üniversitesi Arkeoloji Fakültesi ve Turizm ve Tanıtma Bakanlığı işbirliği ile restore ediliyor.

Kentte en çok dikkati çeken kalıntılardan biri de özellikle Güney Hamamları ve stadyum bölgesinde görülen su dağıtım sistemi. Buraya 7 km. uzaklıktaki Başpınar dan getirilen su, Romalılarda olağan olan, şehrin üzerinden geçen su kemerleri yerine, su  terse çevrilmiş bir sifonunun içinde çifte tazyikli bir boru hattı yardımı ile önce vadiye aşağı indirilip sonra tekrar yukarıya kente getiriliyordu. Antik kentin sütunlu caddelerinde dolaşırken dikkatinize çekecek başka bir özellik de, sokağı kaplayan taş blokların altında ki yağmur sularını akıtmak için için yapılmış ızgaralı su yolları.

The stadium in Laodicea  is the largest ancient stadium in Anatolia , 285 meters long and 79 meters wide and is well preserved. It situated at the South end of the city in a narrow valley, where the two sides of the valley was used to seat the spectators. The two ends of the stadium are closed up. On the West end there is a passage with inscriptions on the entrance pointing out that the  chariots and horses were entering the arena from this point. The stadium was used for gladiator fights and olympic type competition and races with athletes coming from all over the Lycian region. On the North side of the stadium there was a bath complex with a water distribution terminal  and an agora. All of these were destroyed during the big earthquake in 494 A.D. Along with the ongoing  excavations and restorations in the ancient city the stadium of Laodicea is being currently restored to its original position.

Laodicea daki stadyum 285 metre boyunda ve 79 metre eninde olup Anadolu'nun en büyük antik stadyumudur. Kentin güney sınırında yer alan stadyum, dar bir vadinin iki yanı seyirci oturma yerleri olarak

inşa edilmiş diğer iki ucu ise kapatılmıştır. Batı bölümünde ki uçta bir pasaj vardır ve buradaki bir yazıttan anlaşıldığına göre bu geçit yarış arabaların ve atların stadyuma girişi için kullanılmaktaydı. Stadyum gladyatör dövüşleri ve olimpiyat benzeri spor müsabakaları için Likyanın bölgesinin her tarafından gelen atletler tarafından kullanılmıştır. Stadyumun kuzey tarafında bir hamam kompleksi, bir su dağıtım şebekesi ve bir de agora vardı. Bütün bunlar M.S. 494 yılında meydana gelen depremde tahrip olmuştur.  Antik kentte yapılan kazı  ve restorasyon çalışmalarının bir parçası olarak Laodicea stadyumu da restore sürecinden geçmekte ve eski durumuna getirilmek için çalışılmaktadır.