Author: tur

If you head towards the Gulf of Gulluk and get to the edge of the Bodrum Peninsula and the Cove of Varvil you will find the ancient city of Bargylia. The site where there are remains is four kilometres off the main road. You can get there by four wheel drive, though it is much easier to get here by boat from Gulluk. At the site of the ancient city, which had its heyday during the Hellenistic and Roman eras, you can see the columns, the walls of a Roman temple, an altar with reliefs, a small part of a theatre, the ruined foundations of a stoa, fragments of a Roman era aqueduct, city walls and the town’s cemetery.

Men is the ancient lunar deity or moon deity of Anatolia which was worshipped as far back as the 3rd millenium BC and who occasionally graced the coins minted in the area. One of the Men cult’s most important centers, the ancient city of Antiocheia is adorned with many structures dedicated to the Men god. The Sacred site of Men is located 5 km from Yalvac. The temple can be dated back to the 4th century BC. In addition to the temple, there are 2 churches, a stadium and residential dwellings.

Antiocheia is was founded about 1 km north of Yalvac in the province of Isparta on a fertile area lying along the southern slopes of the Sultan Mountains. It was the capital city of the Pisidia and a Seleucid colony like Apollonia. It was built between 281-261 BC by Seleucus’s son Antiocheia and named “Antiocheia” in his honor.

In 25 BC with the selection of Pisidia as the site of Rome’s first and biggest military colony, the city was rebuilt by emperor Augustus. Augustus brought 3000 soldiers from Rome and settled them here in Antiocheia.

The city was given the name “Seven boroughs” and in Latin texts it is referred to as “Res Gestae.” For this reason the ancient Roman city and Antiocheia are sister cities with an important place in history.

At this time, there were inscriptions in Antiocheia of two Lefro (V-VII). In the Roman era, the city had, according to inscriptions, a population of over 100,000 people. The official language was Latin but the population at large spoke Greek. In the early part of Emperor Period of Rome the city was rebuilt according to a ordered city plan and many buildings both religious and civil were constructed.

The ancient ruins of Cedrae in the island of Saray, date back to the Hellenistic Roman era. What is known as the City Islands is comprised of Orta Island and Kucuk Island. The remains of the ramparts can be easily seen from the distance. The island took its name from the rumour that Cleopatra swam with the locals in a small bay at the northwest of the island. Furthermore, she was supposed to have entered the sea with Mark Anthony, the sands of which were transferred from Northern Africa via ships by Anthony which may be true as this type of sand is only seen in Egypt.

The remains of buildings surrounded by ramparts on the east of Saray island date back from the Roman and Hellenistic period, and the small amphitheatre is in the best condition. The Christian Basilica was constructed over the pedestals of the Apollo Temple, belonging to Dors. There is an Agora on the west of Saray with inscriptions suggesting that athletics festivals devoted to Apollo were organised in the region. There are Necropolis ruins at Kucuk Island, as well as column reliefs.