Aphrodisias

Aphrodisias
	Ἀφροδισιάς
	The ruins of Aphrodisias
	Shown within Turkey
Location	Geyre, Aydın Province, Turkey
Region	Caria
Coordinates	37°42′30″N 28°43′25″E
Type	Settlement
History
Cultures	Greek, Roman
Associated with	Alexander of Aphrodisias, Chariton
Site notes
Excavation dates	1904–1905, 1962–present
Archaeologists	Paul Augustin Gaudin, Kenan Erim, Christopher Ratté, R. R. R. Smith
Public access	Yes
Website	Aphrodisias Archaeological Site
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Includes	Archaeological Site of Aphrodisias and Ancient Marble Quarries
Criteria	Cultural: ii, iii, iv, vi
Reference	1519
Inscription	2017 (41st session)
Area	152.25 ha
Buffer zone	1,040.57 ha

Aphrodisias (/æfrəˈdɪsiəs/;[1] Ancient Greek: Ἀφροδισιάς, romanized: Aphrodisiás) was a small ancient Greek Hellenistic city in the historic Caria cultural region of western Anatolia, Turkey. It is located near the modern village of Geyre, about 100 km (62 mi) east/inland from the coast of the Aegean Sea, and 230 km (140 mi) southeast of İzmir.

Ancient cities of Caria

Aphrodisias was named after Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, who had here her unique cult image, the Aphrodite of Aphrodisias. According to the Suda, a Byzantine encyclopedic compilation, before the city became known as Aphrodisias (c.3rd century BCE) it had three previous names: Lelégōn Pólis (Λελέγων πόλις, "City of the Leleges"),[2] Megálē Pólis (Μεγάλη Πόλις, "Great City"), and Ninóē (Νινόη).[3]

Sometime before 640, in the Late Antiquity period when it was within the Byzantine Empire, the city was renamed Stauroúpolis (Σταυρούπολις, "City of the Cross").[4]

In 2017 it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.[5]

History

Modern Geyre.

Aphrodite of Aphrodisias originated in the Archaic period or earlier as a local Carian goddess, but by the Hellenistic era she was identified with the Greek Aphrodite and was given a completely new, canonical image.

Aphrodisias was the metropolis (provincial capital) of the region and Roman province of Caria.[6]

White and blue grey Carian marble was extensively quarried from adjacent slopes in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, for building facades and sculptures. Marble sculptures and sculptors from Aphrodisias became famous in the Roman world. Many examples of statuary have been unearthed in Aphrodisias, and some representations of the Aphrodite of Aphrodisias also survive from other parts of the Roman world, as far afield as Pax Julia in Lusitania.[7]

The city had notable schools for sculpture, as well as philosophy, remaining a centre of paganism until the end of the 5th century.[6] The city was destroyed by earthquake in the early 7th century, and never recovered its former prosperity, being reduced to a small fortified settlement on the site of the ancient theatre.[6] Around the same time, it was also renamed to Stauropolis (Greek: Σταυροῡπολις, "city of the Cross") to remove pagan connotations, but already by the 8th century it was known as Caria after the region, which later gave rise to its modern Turkish name, Geyre.[6][8] In Byzantine times, the city was the seat of a fiscal administrative unit (dioikesis).[8]

The city was sacked again by the rebel Theodore Mankaphas in 1188, and then by the Seljuk Turks in 1197. It finally fell under Turkish control towards the end of the 13th century.[6]

Geological history

The site is in an earthquake zone and has suffered a great deal of damage at various times, especially in severe tremors of the 4th and 7th centuries. An added complication was that one of the 4th century earthquakes altered the water table, making parts of the town prone to flooding. Evidence can be seen of emergency plumbing installed to combat this problem.

Aphrodisias never fully recovered from the 7th century earthquake, and fell into disrepair. Part of the town was covered by the modern village of Geyre; some of the cottages were removed in the 20th century to reveal the older city. A new Geyre has been built a short distance away.

Ecclesiastical history

Le Quien (Oriens christianus, I, 899–904) mentions twenty bishops of this see. In the 7th century Stauropolis had twenty-eight suffragan bishops and twenty-six at the beginning of the 10th century.

Stauropolis is also a Roman Catholic titular metropolitan see, under the name Stauropoli (Latin: Archidioecesis Stauropolitana).[9]

Buildings and other structures

The Temple of Aphrodite.

Museum of Aphrodisias Sevgi Gönül Hall. This hall contains items from the sebasteion structure.

The monumental gateway or tetrapylon.

The odeon.

Marble head of a goddess, found in the Hadrianic Baths, 2nd century AD.

Temple of Aphrodite

The Temple of Aphrodite was a focal point of the town. The Aphrodisian sculptors became renowned and benefited from a plentiful supply of marble close at hand. The school of sculpture was very productive;[10] much of their work can be seen around the site and in the museum. Many full-length statues were discovered in the region of the agora, and trial and unfinished pieces pointing to a true school are in evidence. Sarcophagi were recovered in various locations, most frequently decorated with designs consisting of garland and columns. Pilasters have been found showing what are described as "peopled scrolls" with figures of people, birds and animals entwined in acanthus leaves.

The character of the temple building was altered when it became a Christian basilica. The building is believed to have been dismantled in c. 481-484 by order of Emperor Zeno, because the temple had been the focus of Pagan Hellenic opposition against Zeno in Aphrodisias, in support of Illus, who had promised to restore Hellenic rites, which had been suppressed during the Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire, to the temples that where still standing. [11]

Monumental gateway

A monumental gateway, or tetrapylon, stands at the end of a road that leads from the main north-south street of the town into a large forecourt in front of the Temple or Sanctuary of Aphrodite. The gateway was built ca. A.D. 200.

Bouleuterion

Detail of the frieze of the Portico of Tiberius.

The bouleuterion (council house), or odeon, is centered on the north side of the North Agora. As it stands today, it consists of a semicircular auditorium fronted by a shallow stage structure about 46 m wide. The lower part of the auditorium survives intact, with nine rows of marble seats divided into five wedges by radial stairways. The seating of the upper part, amounting to an additional twelve rows, has collapsed together with its supporting vaults. The plan is an extremely open one, with numerous entrances at ground level and several stairways giving access to the upper rows of seats. A system of massive parallel buttresses shows that the building was originally vaulted. The auditorium would have been lighted by a series of tall, arched windows in the curved outer wall. Seating capacity can be estimated at about 1,750.

The available evidence indicates a construction date in the Antonine or early Severan period (late 2nd or early 3rd century AD). The scaenae frons (stage front) was certainly put up at this time, as the style of both sculpture and architectural ornament suggest. Statue bases terminating the retaining walls of the auditorium bore the names of two brothers, senators in the early Severan period, and two inscribed bases placed symmetrically against the exterior facade held statues of Aphrodisian benefactors, Claudia Antonia Tatiana and her uncle Lucius Antonius Dometinus, who were active at the end of the 2nd century.[12] Tatiana is known to have had close ties with Ephesus, and it is possible that the striking similarities between this building and the bouleuterion on the civic agora there, dated by inscription to the mid-2nd century, are due to some initiative on her part. We do not know what stood here before the 2nd century AD, but it is likely that the present building replaced a smaller one contemporary with the laying out of the agora in the late 1st century BC.

The bouleuterion at Aphrodisias remained in this form until the early 5th century, when a municipal official had it adapted as a palaestra, recording his achievement in an inscription on the upper molding of the pulpitum (stage). Palaestra usually refers to a wrestling ground, but in the 5th century it could be used to describe a hall for lectures, performances, and various kinds of competitive displays, as suggested by a number of factional inscriptions carved on the seats. Numerous additional cuttings in the surviving seats, probably for poles supporting awnings, suggest that by this time the building had lost its roof. The orchestra was lowered and provided with a marble pavement, reused, perhaps, from the earlier phase.[13]

Sebasteion

The Sebasteion

The Sebasteion,[14] or Augusteum, was jointly dedicated, according to a 1st-century inscription on its propylon, "To Aphrodite, the Divine Augusti and the People". A relief found in the ruins of the south portico represented a personification of the polis making sacrifice to the cult image of Aphrodite of Aphrodisias, venerated as promētōr, "foremother" or "ancestral mother". "Aphrodite represents the cosmic force that integrates imperial power with the power of local elites," a reader of Chariton romance has noted.[15] This connection between the goddess and the imperial house was also a particularly politic one at the time, as the Gens Julia - the family of Julius Caesar, Octavian Augustus, and their immediate successors - claimed divine descent from Venus/Aphrodite.

The stadium

A panel from Aphrodisias

Stadium

The stadium was used for athletic events until the theatre was badly damaged by a 7th-century earthquake, requiring part of the stadium to be converted for events previously staged in the theatre.

The stadium measures[16] approximately 270 m (890 ft) by 60 m (200 ft). With 30 rows of seats on each side, and around each end, it would have had a maximum capacity for around 30,000 spectators. The track measures approximately 225 m (738 ft) by 30 m (98 ft).

As the stadium is considerably larger and structurally more extensive than even the stadium at the Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi, it is probably one of the best preserved structures of its kind in the Mediterranean.

Other finds

The Roman Theater (south)

The Roman Theater (north)

Inscriptions

The quality of the marble in Aphrodisias has resulted in an unusually large number of inscribed items surviving in the city. As many pieces of monumental quarried stone were reused in the Late Antique city walls, many inscriptions could and can be easily read without any excavation; the city has therefore been visited and its inscriptions recorded repeatedly in modern times, starting from the early 18th century.

Upwards of 2000 inscriptions have been recorded by excavators under the aegis of New York University. Many of these inscriptions had been re-used in the city walls. Most inscriptions are from the Imperial period, with funerary and honorary texts being particularly well represented, but there are a handful of texts from all periods from the Hellenistic to Byzantine. A set of documents, aimed at portraying the grandeur and history of the city, was included in so-called "Archival Wall".

Excavations in Aphrodisias have also uncovered an important Jewish inscription whose context is unclear. The inscription, in Greek, lists donations made by numerous individuals, of whom several are classed as 'theosebeis', or Godfearers.[17] It seems clear through comparative evidence from the inscriptions in the Sardis synagogue and from the New Testament that such Godfearers were probably interested gentiles who attached themselves to the Jewish community, supporting and perhaps frequenting the synagogue. The geographical spread of the evidence suggests this was a widespread phenomenon in Asia Minor during the Roman period.

Frieze

A frieze discovered in 1980 showing a bare breasted and helmeted female warrior labelled BRITANNIA writhing in agony under the knee of a Roman soldier with to the left and below the inscription TIBERIUS CLAUDIUS CAESAR is assumed to depict Britain subjugated by Rome.[18]

Aphrodite of Aphrodisias

Relief depicting the birth of Aphrodite (Aphrodite Anadyomene), Aphrodisias Museum

The Aphrodite of Aphrodisias

The cult image that is particular to Aphrodisias, the Aphrodite of Aphrodisias, doubtless was once housed in the Temple of Aphrodite.[19] She was a distinctive local goddess who became, by interpretatio graeca, identified with the Greek Aphrodite. Her canonical image, typical of Anatolian cult images, shows that she is related to the Lady of Ephesus,[20] widely venerated in the Greco-Roman world as Artemis of Ephesus.

The surviving images, from contexts where they must have been more civic than ritual, are without exception from the late phase of the cult, in Hellenistic and Roman times. They are rendered in the naturalistic style common to their culture, which gave the local goddess more universal appeal.[21] Like the Lady of Ephesus, the "Aphrodite" of Aphrodisia wears a thick, form-disguising tunic, encasing her as if in a columnar box, always with four registers of standardized imagery. Her feet are of necessity close together, her forearms stretched forward, to receive and to give. She is adorned with necklaces and wears a mural crown[22] together with a diadem and a wreath of myrtle, draped with a long veil that frames her face and extends to the ground. Beneath her overtunic she wears a floor-length chiton.

The bands of decoration on the tunic, rendered in bas-relief, evoke the Goddess's cosmic powers: the Charites, the Three Graces that are the closest attendants of Aphrodite; heads of a married pair (the woman is veiled), identified by Lisa Brody as Gaia and Uranos, Earth and the Heavens, over which this goddess reigns, rather than as Zeus and Hera; Helios and Selene separated by a pillar; the marine Aphrodite,[23] riding a sea-goat, and at the base a group of Erotes performing cult rituals.

Archaeology

Aphrodisias Stone heads.

Unknown Roman matrona, 2nd century AD. from Aphrodisias, now presented in Istanbul Archaeological Museum

Sarcophagus on site

The first formal excavations were undertaken in 1904-5, by a French railroad engineer, Paul Augustin Gaudin. Some of the architectural finds (mostly friezes, pilasters and capitals) he discovered at the site are now in the British Museum.[24]

The most recent, ongoing excavations were begun by Kenan Erim under the aegis of New York University in 1962 and are currently led by Professor R. R. R. Smith (at Oxford University) and Professor Katharine Welch of the NYU Institute of Fine Arts. The findings reveal that the lavish building programme in the city's civic center was initiated and largely funded by one Gaius Julius Zoilus, a local who was a slave of Gaius Julius Caesar, set free by Octavian.[25] When Zoilus returned as a freedman to his native city, endowed with prestige and rich rewards for his service, he shrewdly directed it to align with Octavian in his power struggle against Mark Antony. This ensured Octavian's lasting favor in the form of financial privileges that allowed the city to prosper.

In September 2014, drones weighing about 0.5 kg were used to 3D map the above-ground ruins of Aphrodisias. The data is being analysed by the Austrian Archaeological Institute in Vienna.[26]

In March 2018, an ancient tomb has been unearthed in an area where illegal excavations were carried out. The tomb was taken to the Aphrodisias Museum.[27]

References and sources

References

"Aphrodisias". Oxford Dictionaries UK Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2016-01-20.
For Greeks, "Leleges" denoted an ancient pre-Greek people.
See Suda Online s.v. Ninoe, Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine (accessed 25-12-2006); the elite of Aphrodisias linked their founding to the Assyrian ruler called in Greek Ninus, the eponymous founder also of Nineveh.
Siméon Vailhé, "Stauropolis" The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1912 full text, citing Heinrich Gelzer, Ungedruckte ... Texte der Notitiæ episcopatuum, 534. The name Tauropolis, said to have been borne by the town prior to that of Stauropolis, is an error of several scholars, e.g. Revue des études grecques 19:228-30; the error 'Tauropolis' derives from inscription IAph 42: see discussion by Roueché at ALA VI.48
UNESCO 2017 inscriptions
Foss, Clive (1991). "Aphrodisias". In Kazhdan, Alexander (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. p. 128. ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
Peter Noelke, "Zwei unbekännte Repliken der Aphrodite von Aphrosias in Köln" Arkäologischer Anzeiger 98.1:107-31.
Nesbitt, John W.; Oikonomides, Nicolas, eds. (1994). "Karia/Stauropolis". Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Volume 2: South of the Balkans, the Islands, South of Asia Minor. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. pp. 167–169. ISBN 0-88402-226-9.
"Stauropolis". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
Kenan T. Erim, "The school of Aphrodisias, " Archaeology 20.1:18-27.
Trombley, Hellenic Religion and Christianization c. 370-529
Sculptures of the Bouleuterion.
The architecture of the Bouleuterion is examined by Lionel Bier, "The Bouleuterion at Aphrodisias," Aphrodisias Papers 4
Sebastós is the Greek equivalent of Latin Augustus.
Douglas R. Edwards notes in, "Defining the Web of Power in Asia Minor: The Novelist Chariton and His City Aphrodisias" Journal of the American Academy of Religion 62.3 (Autumn 1994:699-718) p. 711.
"New York University, Aphrodisias Excavations website". Stadium. Retrieved 2011-12-26.
Published by J. M. Reynolds and R. F. Tannenbaum, Jews and Godfearers at Aphrodisias, Cambridge Philological Society Supplementary Volume 12, (Cambridge, 1987)
Roman Britain By Timothy W. Potter and Catherine Johns, University of California Press, 1992 p. 40
This section follows the dissertation by Lisa R. Brody, under the direction of Christopher Ratté, "The Iconography and Cult of the Aphrodite of Aphrodisias"; her upcoming book will present a catalogue of all surviving images.
Lisa Brody notes other images of similar formula: the Artemis of Perge, the Artemis of Claros, the Kore of Sardis, Zeus Labraundeus, and Jupiter Heliopolitanus of Baalbek.
Lisa Brody suggests the refounding of Artemisias as a Greek polis about the second century BCE as a possible context for the recreation in Hellenistic terms of a postulated archaic image.
In the third century BCE, artists began to place a mural crown on images of the goddess Cybele, who had been represented since Hittite times with a cylindrical polos. The Artemis of Ephesus also wears a mural crown in Hellenistic-Roman images; such a substitution is likely also for the reinterpretation of the Lady of Aphrodisias.
The marine Aphrodite, known to Greeks as Aphrodite Pelagia, to Romans as Venus Marina, is not elsewhere represented riding the sea-goat.
British Museum Collection
R. R. R. Smith, "The Monument of C. Julius Zoilos" Aphrodisias Papers 2 R. R. R. Smith, K. T. Erim (eds) 1993.
Hudson, Hal (24 September 2014). "Air-chaeological drones search for ancient treasures". New Scientist. No. 2988. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
Ancient tomb found in illegal excavations in Aydın

Sources

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Stauropolis". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. (Late Antique and Ecclesiastical History)

External links

Afrodisyas (Aphrodisias) Örenyeri — official website
Aphrodisias, the Greek goddess of love
New York University, Aphrodisias Excavations website
Inscriptions found in Aphrodisias
Aphrodisias
Sebasteion: Aphrodisias School of Sculpture
Monuments of Aphrodisias, summarised by Turizm.net, a Turkish travel guide
History of Aphrodisias, birth place of the goddess of love
The English Friends of Aphrodisias
Images:

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[1] "Aphrodisias". Oxford Dictionaries UK Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2016-01-20.

[2] For Greeks, "Leleges" denoted an ancient pre-Greek people.

[3] See Suda Online s.v. Ninoe, Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine (accessed 25-12-2006); the elite of Aphrodisias linked their founding to the Assyrian ruler called in Greek Ninus, the eponymous founder also of Nineveh.

[cath-4] Siméon Vailhé, "Stauropolis" The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1912 full text, citing Heinrich Gelzer, Ungedruckte ... Texte der Notitiæ episcopatuum, 534. The name Tauropolis, said to have been borne by the town prior to that of Stauropolis, is an error of several scholars, e.g. Revue des études grecques 19:228-30; the error 'Tauropolis' derives from inscription IAph 42: see discussion by Roueché at ALA VI.48

[5] UNESCO 2017 inscriptions

[ODB-6] Foss, Clive (1991). "Aphrodisias". In Kazhdan, Alexander (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. p. 128. ISBN 0-19-504652-8.

[7] Peter Noelke, "Zwei unbekännte Repliken der Aphrodite von Aphrosias in Köln" Arkäologischer Anzeiger 98.1:107-31.

[DOAKS-8] Nesbitt, John W.; Oikonomides, Nicolas, eds. (1994). "Karia/Stauropolis". Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Volume 2: South of the Balkans, the Islands, South of Asia Minor. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. pp. 167–169. ISBN 0-88402-226-9.

[9] "Stauropolis". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 January 2015.

[10] Kenan T. Erim, "The school of Aphrodisias, " Archaeology 20.1:18-27.

[11] Trombley, Hellenic Religion and Christianization c. 370-529

[12] Sculptures of the Bouleuterion.

[13] The architecture of the Bouleuterion is examined by Lionel Bier, "The Bouleuterion at Aphrodisias," Aphrodisias Papers 4

[14] Sebastós is the Greek equivalent of Latin Augustus.

[15] Douglas R. Edwards notes in, "Defining the Web of Power in Asia Minor: The Novelist Chariton and His City Aphrodisias" Journal of the American Academy of Religion 62.3 (Autumn 1994:699-718) p. 711.

[16] "New York University, Aphrodisias Excavations website". Stadium. Retrieved 2011-12-26.

[17] Published by J. M. Reynolds and R. F. Tannenbaum, Jews and Godfearers at Aphrodisias, Cambridge Philological Society Supplementary Volume 12, (Cambridge, 1987)

[18] Roman Britain By Timothy W. Potter and Catherine Johns, University of California Press, 1992 p. 40

[19] This section follows the dissertation by Lisa R. Brody, under the direction of Christopher Ratté, "The Iconography and Cult of the Aphrodite of Aphrodisias"; her upcoming book will present a catalogue of all surviving images.

[20] Lisa Brody notes other images of similar formula: the Artemis of Perge, the Artemis of Claros, the Kore of Sardis, Zeus Labraundeus, and Jupiter Heliopolitanus of Baalbek.

[21] Lisa Brody suggests the refounding of Artemisias as a Greek polis about the second century BCE as a possible context for the recreation in Hellenistic terms of a postulated archaic image.

[22] In the third century BCE, artists began to place a mural crown on images of the goddess Cybele, who had been represented since Hittite times with a cylindrical polos. The Artemis of Ephesus also wears a mural crown in Hellenistic-Roman images; such a substitution is likely also for the reinterpretation of the Lady of Aphrodisias.

[23] The marine Aphrodite, known to Greeks as Aphrodite Pelagia, to Romans as Venus Marina, is not elsewhere represented riding the sea-goat.

[24] British Museum Collection

[25] R. R. R. Smith, "The Monument of C. Julius Zoilos" Aphrodisias Papers 2 R. R. R. Smith, K. T. Erim (eds) 1993.

[26] Hudson, Hal (24 September 2014). "Air-chaeological drones search for ancient treasures". New Scientist. No. 2988. Retrieved 2 October 2014.

[27] Ancient tomb found in illegal excavations in Aydın

Ancient settlements in Turkey
Aegean	Achaion Limen Acharaca Acmonia Adramyttium Agatheira Aegae Airai Aizanoi Alabanda Alinda Allianoi Almura Amnista Amorium Amos Amynanda Amyzon Anaua Anineta Annaea Antandrus Antioch on the Maeander Apamea in Phrygia Aphrodisias Apollonia in Mysia Apollonia Salbaces Apollonis Apollonos Hieron Appia Appolena Aragokome Araukome Arilla Aroma Aspaneus Astragon Astyra near Adramyttium Astyra near Pergamon Astyria Atarneus Atarneus sub Pitanem Attea Attuda Aulae Aurelia Neapolis Aureliopolis in Lydia Aurokra Bageis Bargasa Bargasa in northern Caria Bargylia Beudos Beycesultan Birgena Blaundus Bonitai Boukolion Boutheia Briula Bruzus Bybassus Cadi Callipolis Caloe Canae Carene Carmylessus Carura Caryanda Castabus Casystes Cedreae Celaenae Ceramus Chalcetor Choria Chrysaoris Chytrium Cidramus Cindye Cisthene Clannuda Claros Colophon Colossae Conium Coryphas Cybeleia Cyllandus Cyme Daldis Dareioukome Dideiphyta Didyma Digda Dioclea Dionysiopolis Dios Hieron in Ionia Dios Hieron in Lydia Dioskome Docimium Doroukome Eibos Eiokome Elaea Embatum Emoddi Ephesus Erines Erythrae Erythras Etsyena Eukarpia Euhippe Eumeneia Euromus Euthenae Euxine Gambrium Gerga Gergitha Gerriadai Glauke Gryneium Halicarnassus Halisarna Harpasa Helos Heraclea at Latmus Heraclea in Aeolis Heraclea in Lydia Heraclea Salbace Hermocapelia Hierapolis Hierapolis of the Phyrgian Pentapolis Hierocaesarea Homadena Hydai Hydas Hydissus Hygassos Hyllarima Hypaepa Hypokremnos Hyrcanis Iasos Iaza Idyma Ioniapolis Ioudda Ipsus Isinda in Ionia Iskome Kadyie Kaira Kalabantia Kasara Kasossos Kaualena Kaunos Kilaraza Kildara Klazomenai Kleimaka Kleros Politike Knidos Koddinou Petra Koraia Korakoe Koresa Kouara Kyllene Kymnissa Kys Labraunda Lagina Lalandos Lamyana Lankena Laodicea on the Lycus Larisa in Caria Larisa in Ionia Larisa in Lydia Larissa Phrikonis Larymna Lasnedda Latmus Lebedus Leimon Leucae Leucophrys Limantepe Lobolda Lunda Lydae Lyrna Lysimachia Madnasa Maeandropolis Magnesia ad Sipylum Magnesia on the Maeander Maiboza Maionia in Lydia Malene Marathesium Mastaura Meiros Meiros Megale Melampagos Meloukome Metropolis in Lydia Metropolis in southern Phrygia Miletus Mylasa Mobolla Mokolda Mossyna Mostene Motella Myloukome Myndus Myrina Myus Nais Nasos Naulochon Naulochus Naxia Neapolis Neonteichos Nisyra Notion Nymphaeum Nysa on the Maeander Odon Oenoanda Olaeis Olymos Oroanna Orthoisa Ortygia Otrus Palaemyndus Panasion Panormus near Miletus Panormus near Halicarnassus Parsada Parthenium Passala Passanda Pedasa Pepuza Pergamon Perperene Philadelphia in Lydia Phocaea Phoenix in Caria Physcus Phyteia Pidasa Pinara Pisilis Pisye Pitane Pladasa Plarasa Polichna in Ionia Polichne in Ionia Polybotus Pordoselene Priene Prymnessus Pteleum Pydnae Pygela Pyrnus Pyrrha Saouenda Sardis Satala in Lydia Sebaste in Phrygia Sebastopolis in Caria Setae Side in Caria Sidussa Silandus Sillyos Skolopoeis Smyrna Soa Spore Stadia Stectorium Stratonicea in Lydia Stratonicea in Caria Strobilos Syangela Symbra Synaus Syneta Synnada Syrna Tabae Tabala Tateikome Taza Teichiussa Telandrus Temenothyra Temnos Tempsis Tendeba Teos Termera Teuthrania Thasthara Theangela Thebe Hypoplakia Thebes Thera Thyaira Thyatira Thymbrara Thyssanus Tisna Tlos in Caria Tomara Traianopolis Trapezopolis Trarium Triopium Tripolis on the Meander Troketta Tyanollos Tymion Tymnos Ula Uranium Zemmeana Zingotos Kome
Black Sea	Abonoteichos Aegialus Aiginetes Alaca Höyük Amasia Amastris Ancon Anticinolis Argyria Armene Bonita Boon Cabira Cales Callistratia Carambis Carissa Carussa Cerasus Chadisia Cinolis Cizari Colonia in Armenia Colussa Comana in the Pontus Coralla Cordyle Cratia Crenides Cromen Cromna Cyptasia Cytorus Dia Diacopa Elaeus Endeira Erythini Euchaita Eusene Gadilon Garius Garzoubanthon Gaziura Gozalena Hadrianopolis in Paphlagonia Hattusa Heraclea Pontica Heracleium Hermonassa Hieron Oros Hüseyindede Tepe Hyssus Ibora Ischopolis Karza Kelesa Kimista Laodicea Pontica Libiopolis Lillium Metroon Mokata Naustathmus Nerik Nicopolis Ophis Oxinas Patara Pharnacia Phazemon Philocaleia Pida Pimolisa Polemonium Pompeiopolis Potami Prusias ad Hypium Pteria in Paphlagonia Salatiwara Samuha Sandaraca Sapinuwa Satala Saurania Sebastopolis in Pontus Stephane Syderos Themiscyra Thymena Timolaeum Tium Tripolis Virasia Yazılıkaya Zagorus Zaliche Zephyrium in Paphlagonia Ziporea
Central Anatolia	Abouadeineita Alişar Hüyük Amblada Anadynata Andabalis Anisa Anniaca Ano Kotradis Antoniopolis Anzoulada Aquae Saravenae Aralla Arasaxa Archalla Ardistama Ariaramneia Ariarathia Armaxa Artiknos Aspenzinsos Astra Atenia Balbissa Balgatia Barate Bathys Rhyax Binbirkilise Blucium Borissos Campae Camuliana Candara Carus Vicus Çatalhöyük Cimiata Ciscissus Cinna Claneus Comitanassus Congustus Corna Corniaspa Coropassus Cotenna Cybistra Cyzistra Dadastana Dasmenda Derbe Diocaesarea Doara Dometiopolis Dorylaeum Ecdaumava Ecobriga Ergobrotis Euaissa Eudocia (Cappadocia) Eudocia (Phrygia) Eulepa Faustinopolis Germa Gorbeus Gordium Hadrianopolis in Phrygia Heraclea Cybistra Herpha Hieropotamon Homana Hyde Ilistra Irenopolis Juliopolis Kaman-Kalehöyük Kanotala Karbala Keissia Kerkenes Kilistra Kindyria Kobara Kodylessos Korama Koron Kültepe (Kanesh) Lageina Lamatorma Laodicea Combusta Laroumada Lauzadus Limnae Lystra Malandasa Malus in Galatia Malus in Phrygia Meloë Metropolis in northern Phrygia Midaeium Mistea Mnizus Mokissos Mourisa Moutalaske Musbanda Myrika Nakoleia Nazianzus Nitazi Nora Nyssa Ochras Olosada Orcistus Papirion Parnassus Pedachtoë Pedaia Peium Perta Pessinus Pharax Phlara Pillitokome Pissia Pithoi Pontanena Posala Pteria Purushanda Pyrgoi Sadagolthina Salamboreia Salarama Sasima Savatra Sbida Sedasa Senzousa Sereana Sibora Sidamaria Skandos Soanda Soandos Sora Takourtha Tavium Thebasa Thouththourbia Tiberiopolis Trocmades Tyana Tynna Tyriaeum Vasada Zeita Zenopolis Zizima
Eastern Anatolia	Altıntepe Ani Arsamosata Cafer Höyük Dadima Melid Sugunia Tushpa
Marmara	Abydos Achaiion Achilleion Ad Statuas Adrasteia Aegospotami Agora Aianteion in Thrace Aianteion in the Troad Ainos Alexandria Troas Alopeconnesus Ammoi Amycus Anaplous Apamea Myrlea Aphrodisias Apollonia on the Rhyndacus Aprus Apsoda Arbeila Argiza Argyria Argyronion Argyropolis Arisba Artace Artaiouteichos Artanes Assos Astacus Astyra in Troad Aureliane Aureliopolis Baradendromia Basilica Therma Basilinopolis Bathonea Beodizo Bergule Birytis Bitenas Bithynium Blachernae Bolos Boradion Brunca Burtudizon Bythias Byzantium Byzapena Caenophrurium Callum Calpe Canopus Cardia Cebrene Cenon Gallicanon Chalcaea Chalcedon Charax Charmidea Chelae on the Black Sea Chelae on the Asian coast of the Bosphorus Chelae on the European coast of the Bosphorus Choiragria Chryse Chrysopolis Cius Clitae Cobrys Cocylium Colla Cremaste Crenides Cressa Crithote Cypasis Cypsela Cyzicus Dadokome Dacibyza Damalis Daphne Mainomene Daphnus Dardanus Dascylium Dascylium in Bithynia Dekaton in Bithynia Dekaton in Thrace Delkos Delphin Deris Desa Didymateiche Diolkides Drabus Drizipara/Drusipara Eirakla Elaea in Bithynia Elaeus Elekosmioi Embolos Ergasteria Eribolum Gargara Gentinos Gergis Germa Germanicopolis Hadriani ad Olympum Hadriania Hadrianotherae Hamaxitus Harpagion Hebdomon Helenopolis/Drepanum Heracleium Hieria Hierion Iasonion Ide Ilieon Kome Kabia Kalamos Kalasyrta Kale Peuke Kalos Agros Kampos Kassa Katapaspanas Kepos Kizoura Koila Kolonai Kosilaos Koubaita Kyparodes Kypra Lamponeia Lampsacus Larisa in Troad Lasthenes Leptoia Liada Libum Libyssa Limnae in Bithynia Limnae in Thrace Linus Lupadium Lygos Lysimachia Madytus Mantineion Marpessos Miletopolis Mocasura Mochadion Modra Morzapena Mossynea Moukaporis Myrileion Narco Nassete Nausikleia Nausimachion Neandreia Neapolis on the Bosphorus Neapolis on the Thracian Chersonese Neonteichos Nerola Nicomedia Oka Ontoraita Ophryneion Orestias Orni Ostreodes Pactya Paeon Paesus Palodes Panion Pantichium Parabolos Parium Paulines Pegae in Mysia Pegae in Thrace Pege Pentephyle Percote Pericharaxis Perinthus Petrozetoi Pharmakia Phidalia Petra Phiela Philia Phosphorus Pionia Pitheci Portus Placia Ploketta Poemanenum Poleatikon Polymedium Potamoi Potamonion Praenetus Pratomysia Prepa Priapus Prindea Proconnesus Proochthoi Prusa Psarela Psyllium Pyrrhias Cyon Pytheion Rhebas Rhegion Rhesion Rhoiteion Rouphinianai Salmydessus Sangarus Scamandria Scamandrus Scepsis Scylace Scylla Selymbria Semystra Serrion Teichos Sestos Sigeion Sirkanos Smintheion Soka Strobilos Sykai Syllanta Tarpodizo Tarsus in Bithynia Tattaios Tenba Terbos Tesderamoska Tetrakomia Tipaso Tragasai Thynias Traron Tricomia in Bithynia Troy (Hisarlik) Tyrodiza Tzurulum Urisio Utsurgae Zeleia
Mediterranean	Acalissus Acarassus Adada Adrasus Aegae Agrae Alalakh Amelas Anabura in Pisidia Anazarbus Anchiale Andeda Andriaca Anemurium Antigonia Antioch on the Orontes Antioch of Pisidia Antiochia Lamotis Antioch on the Cragus Antioch on the Pyramis Antiphellus Aperlae Aphrodisias of Cilicia Apollonia in Lycia Arabissus Araxa Ariassus Arima Arnabanda Arneae Arsada Arsinoe Artanada Arycanda Aspendos Augai Augusta Aulae Aunesis Bab al-Hawa Border Crossing Balbura Baris Bindaios Bubon Cabassus Cadrema Cadyanda Callimache Calynda Carallia Carmylessus Casae Castabala Ceretapa Cestrus Charadrus Choma Cibyra Mikra Claudiopolis Colybrassus Comama Comana in Cappadocia Comba Conana Coracesium Corycium Antrum Corycus (Kızkalesi) Corydala Cremna Cretopolis Crya Cyaneae Cyrrhus Daedala Dalisandus in Isauria Dalisandus in Pamphylia Damasei Dias Diocaesarea Domuztepe Elaiussa Sebaste Elbessos Emirzeli Epiphania Erymna Etenna Eudocia (Lycia) Eudocias (Pamphylia) Flaviopolis Gagae Gözlükule Hacilar Hadrianopolis in Pisidia Halae Hamaxia Hippucome Holmi Hyia Idebessos Idyros Iotape Irenopolis Isaura Nea Isaura Palaea Isba Isinda in Lycia Isinda in Pisidia Issus Istlada Juliosebaste Kalanthia Kalelibelen Kandyba Kanytelis Karakabaklı Karatepe Karkabo Kastellon Keraia Kibyra Kiphisos Kirkota Kitanaura Kodroula Kolbasa Korasion Korma Kynosarion Laertes Lagbe Lamos Lebessus Legeita Limnae in Pamphylia Limnae in Pisidia Limyra Lissa Lycae Lyrbe Lysinia Magarsa Magastara Magydus Mallus Malus in Pisidia Mampsoukrenai Mamure Castle Manava Mandane Marciana Marmara (Mnara) Mastaura Meloë Melanippe Meriana Mezgitkale Moatra Mopsucrene Mopsuestia Morka Moron Hydor Moumoustra Mylae Mylios Myra Myriandus Nagidos Nauloi Neapolis in Pisidia Nephelis Nisa Octapolis Olba Olbasa Olbia Olympus Öküzlü Onobara Orokenda Otanada Ouerbe Padyandus Panemotichus Panhormus Pargais Parlais Patara Pednelissus Perga Perminounda Phaselis Phellus Philadelphia in Cilicia Philaea Phoenicus Phoenix in Lycia Pisarissos Pisurgia Placoma Platanus Podalia Pogla Prostanna Pseudokorasion Ptolemais Rhodiapolis Rhoscopus Rhosus Rygmanoi Sabandus Sagalassos Sandalium Saraganda Sebeda Seleucia in Pamphylia Seleucia Pieria Seleucia Sidera Selge Selinus Seroiata Serraepolis Sia Sibidounda Sibyla Side Siderus Sidyma Sillyon Simena Sinda Siricae Soli Solyma Sozopolis Sura Syca Syedra Takina Tapureli Tardequeia Tarsus Teimiussa Tell Tayinat Telmessos Telmessos (Caria) Tenedos Termessos Tetrapyrgia in Cappadocia Tetrapyrgia in Pamphylia Titiopolis Tityassus Tlos Toriaeum Tragalassus Trebendae Trebenna Trysa Tyberissus Tyinda Tymandus Tynada Typallia Xanthos Yanıkhan Yumuktepe Zephyrium on the Calycadnus
Southeastern Anatolia	Amida Antioch in the Taurus Antioch in Mesopotamia (Constantia) Apamea on the Euphrates Carcathiocerta Carchemish Çayönü Dabanas Dara Doliche Edessa Göbekli Tepe Hallan Çemi Tepesi Harran Khashshum Kussara Nevalı Çori Nicopolis in Cilicia Nisibis Sakçagözü Sam'al Samosata Sareisa Seleucia at the Zeugma Sitai Sultantepe Tille Tushhan Urima Urshu Zeugma

UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Turkey
Aegean	Aphrodisias Ephesus Hierapolis / Pamukkale Pergamon Xanthos / Letoon¹
Black Sea	Hittite Capital of Hattusa Safranbolu
Central Anatolia	Göreme and Rock Sites of Cappadocia Neolithic Site of Çatalhöyük Divriği Great Mosque and Hospital
East Anatolia	Historic city of Ani
Marmara	Archaeological Site of Troy Bursa and Cumalıkızık Historic Areas of Istanbul Selimiye Mosque and its Social Complex
Mediterranean	Xanthos / Letoon¹
Southeastern Anatolia	Mount Nemrut in Commagene Diyarbakır Fortress and Hevsel Gardens Göbekli Tepe
¹ Shared with other regions