On the Izmir Antalya road, Aphrodisias (Geyre) was an important centre for culture and art famous for its training in sculpture. This remarkable, ancient Roman city was dedicated to Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. Located near the village of Geyre, the ruins merit at least half a day of exploration. See the old walls, theater and stadium (it once held upward of 30,000 people) and be sure to visit the museum, which contains several interesting sculptures found at the site.

The public buildings are handsomely adorned with marble that was carved with astonishing skill, producing remarkable temples, monuments, baths, a theatre and a magnificent stadium. The reputation of the city’s craftsmen for the exquisite finesse of their statuary and marble sculpting spread through the civilised world, and Aphrodisias became the center of the greatest sculpting school of antiquity. Many of its marvellous works of art are now housed in the local museum. The theatre and bouleuterion are among the city’s best-preserved ruins.

Around the time of 1200 BC, the Phrygians came to the Anatolian Plateau from Europe and established their capital, Gordion, near Polatli west of Ankara. Alexander the Great was supposed to have become the ruler of Asia by virtue of ‘undoing’ Gordion’sknot with his sword. The tomb of the Phrygian king Midas, who according to legend turned everything he touched into gold, is located near Gordion. Near Eskisehir and Afyon there are a number of Phrygian cities and places of worship.

There are three ways of reaching Kaunos which attract great attention today owing to its Venetian type of channel and Lycian type of tombs. The visitors who come by means of their yachts, land on the island named Delikli Ada and reach the site of the ruins by starting off in small boats from here; those who come from Marmaris by sea route, drop anchor in the vicinity of Delikli Ada and also reach the site of the ruins in small boats; and those who come by land route, reach the ruins by starting boats from the Village of Dalyan which is at a distance of 27 km from Koycegiz.

The existance of the ruins of Kaunos was first discovered in the year 1842, and excavations have been carried on there by the Turkish archaeologists under the supervision of Prof. Baki Ogun since 1967. Kaunos, the son of Miletos, had been indicated as the founder of the city and therefore, it had been named Kaunos. The city was first captured by the Persians and then by Alexander and in the year 189 B.C., it was made subject to the Kingdom of Rhodes. We know that it continued until the year 167 B.C.

Kaunos was the subjected to the kingdom of Pergamon and was brought directly under the sovereignty of Rome after 133 B.C. You reach the site of the ruins by means of channel adorned with Lycian type tombs belonging to the 4th century B.C. The first place that we see is the acropolis of Kaunos. The northern part of the city wall, which surrounds the acropolis, belongs to the period of Mausolos. The northwestern part has Hellenistic qualities. And starting from the harbour are seen the city walls of Cyclopean type belonging to the Archaic Period.

The theater belonging to the Roman Period is located at the skirt of the acropolis and its southern part is carved in the rock; the other parts are shaped into seats supported by gable roof vaults. There are 33 rows of seats, the scene has collapsed and the part of the orchestra has been filled in. A temple, revealed by the recent excavations, is located at far west of the theater, and a church and the magnificent walls of the Roman Bath are visible beyond it. Another temple belonging to the Roman Period is located behind the bath.

As we go downwards, we see the remains of a wall built in the shape of three fourths of a circle with a row of columns on it and, behind it, a temple of the Doric order. The locality called Suluklu Gol (Lake of Leeches) in Caunos today, was a harbour closed by means of chains during the Antique Period. The excavations performed at the north of this harbour have revealed a stoa which used to form a part of the port agora. The fountain near the stoa has a plan of inantis style and has been restored recently, and the inscription which is seen on its side facing the harbour, contains the written decrees concerning the customs house.

Located in the north of Bodrum, the ancient city of is Euromos worth visiting because of her temple. The city got its name 4th century BC when Caria became under the Greek rule. It is suggested that the name Euromos was also used for the district. The Temple of Zeus, which was partially searched and excavated, revealed some interesting results indicating the existence of an earlier shrine there. This Corinthian temple with peirpteros plan with 6*11 columns is believed to built during the time of Hadrian.

The existence of some unfluted columns show that the temple never got the finishing touches. From the inscriptions on the columns, we understand that prominent figures of the city donated those columns to the temple. Sixteen of the columns are still standing with their splendid Corinthian capitals.

Twelve of the standing coleus have plaques with dedicatory inscriptions, mentioning the name of the state physians and magistrate Menecrates and his daughter who presented these columns and other five columns with the dedications of magistrate Leo Quintus. An altar was unearthed at the east of the temple.

Located in the north of Bodrum, the ancient city of is Euromos worth visiting. The city got its name 4th century BC when Caria became under the Greek rule. The Temple of Zeus, which was partially searched and excavated, revealed some interesting results indicating an earlier shrine existed here. This Corinthian temple with peipteros plan with 6*11 columns is believed to built during the time of Hadrian. The existence of some unfluted columns show that the temple never got the finishing touches. From the inscriptions on the coleus, we understand that prominent figures of the city donated those columns to the temple

Due to its privileged location, its marble and fishing, Iassos had been inhabited since the earliest days of the history. The city was founded by the Greek colonist coming from Argos nearly 9th BC and then inhabited by the immigrants from Miletus. However, Italian archaeologists under the directorate of Doro Levi have found Minoan houses and Mycenaean pottery which indicates that the site had been inhabited at much earlier date than arrival of Greeks.

The digs started 1960s reveled that oldest part of Iassos was on the top of Acropolis hill, now taken by the Byzantine fortress. These evidences show some similarities between the Crete, Greece and Anatolian cultures. The chief divinities of Iassos were Apollo and Artemis. One of the inscriptions discovered in Iasos mentions Artemis Astias, apparently mixture of old Carian deity Goddess with Artemis the hunter. Her temple had unroofed cella. On the other side, theatre and festivals arranged for Dionysus shows also importance of God Dionysus in Iasos. The city is mainly is situated on the rocky island with the exception of city walls and necropolis.

One of the very impressive monuments of Iasos is a monumental mausoleum, a temple tomb in Syrian style. The burial chamber is surmounted by small Corinthian temple which rested on 10 stepped crepidoma. Although it is dated to Roman Period and many skeletons were discovered in the tomb, we have no idea about the identities of the owners. Behind the village, there are extensive ruins of a defense wall dating to 4th century BC. Rectangular in shape and situated at a certain distance from the town, this wall is believed to be used by a garrison protecting the city.

Among the noteworthy monuments, we can mention partly excavated agora; well preserved Odeon dated to Roman Imperial Period; Ceasarium where main deities of the city were worshipped; ruins of a Roman theatre dedicated to Dionysus and to the people of Iasos; a Roman villa where Italian team discovered the remains of Roman Mosaics and frescoes; a shrine dedicated to Demeter and Kore.

Some of the coins discovered at Iassos show the Dolphin and a young boy. This reminds us the story of a young boy who was befriended by a dolphin, a story both mentioned by Plinius and Aelian. According to Plinius, Alexander the Great was so charmed with the story of Dolphin and young boy, he took the youth along with him on his campaign to Asia and made the boy the head of priesthood of Poseidon, the god of Sea.