Aphrodisias – The Birthplace of the Love and Beauty Goddess
I was whispering the same name over and over again while I watched the fading lights of Istanbul on my flight to Denizli.
I looked to the fading city lights one more time and continued to read the story.
“On an autumn morning, the very calm sea suddenly started boil and foam. With this wave movement, a seashell moved to the shore. When the seashell opened, the most beautiful thing in the earth, the goddess of beauty and love, appeared. Her son, the love god, Eros was with her. When Aphrodite walked along the beach, colorful and the most beautifully fragrant flowers appeared on her footprints in the sand.
The goddess of time, Horas, met with them. First of all, they washed Aphrodite to wipe away the salty water from her body. They braided her hair and upon her head put a golden crown. They dressed her in a siphon dress and put a necklace of golden fire to her breast. Then they took her and her son to the Olympus Mountain. The gods on the Olympus Mountain could not hide their admiration when they saw her beauty.
Aphrodite started to live with the gods on the Olympus Mountain along the Mediterranean coast close to Antalya in Turkey. Not only gods admired Aphrodite for her beauty but also human beings. She was putting seeds of love to the hearths of human beings and she was spreading laughter and happiness all around. But sometimes this laughter and happiness could turn into the pain of love. Aphrodite’s power was not only effective on gods and human beings but also nature. With only one sweet look she could stop the storms out at sea and with one whisper, she could stop the wind. She could give life to anything on the earth and make everything alive again. She could make flowers bloom and she could spread beauty to the world”
I closed my eyes and I dreamt of being in Aphrodite’s ancient city while the airplane carried me closer to Denizli through a dark sky.
I spent the whole day Saturday exploring the white travertine hot springs of Pamukkale and swimming in the mineral enriched waters. On Sunday, after having a delicious traditional Turkish breakfast, I started my drive towards Aphrodisias for my appointment with the goddess of love and beauty Aphrodite.
To reach the ancient city of Aphrodisias, you need to drive towards Denizli and then follow the signs to Tavas. I drove the car between gorgeous mountains, increasing the volume of classical music in the car to share my excitement with the huge mountains around me.
The ancient city of Aphrodisias is one of the most important archaeological sites of the Greek and Roman periods in Turkey. Aphrodisias is located near to Geyre village in the area of Aydin. 520 hektar of land has been taken by the Turkish government to protect the ancient city. The city belonged to Karia at one time and it was accepted as the center of their religion. In those times, there were ceremonies dedicated to the honor of Aphrodite. When the Christian religion came with the Romans in A.D.190, the city was named “Istavro Polis”. Emperor Augustus said ” I have chosen Aphrodisias for myself of all Asian cities”. This made the city an important place. Having a Temple and marble quarries were the reasons why Aphrodisias was the center for marble carving and why it was famous all around the Mediterranean area.
It made me question the meaning of life when I visited the grave of Professor Kenan Evrim near to Tetrapylon who dedicated his life between 1961 and the year he died in 1990 to excavate and preserve the ancient city which is blesses with the dedication of this mans life.
At the entrance to the ancient city Aphrodisias there is a museum. You can’t decide what to do first, to walk in the ancient city and breathe the 7000 years of history or to see the museum full of artifacts. I decided to walk in to the city, and steep myself in its secrets and history. The 3.5 kilometers of walls around the ancient city are from Roman times. Next to the museum are the historical foundations believed to be the house of first Roman Empire, Julius-Claudius’s family.
When you follow the pathway, you first meet with the acropolis theater. The theater was built in the early Hellenistic times around 1st century A.D and it combines the style of Hellenistic and Roman architecture.
The acropolis theater, which can hold 7000 people, had three different stages, all of them built using different architectural designs but today only one stage is remaining. Sezar and Augustus named the theater that was built on the Acropolis, after the freed slave Zoilo. The theater was then dedicated to Aphrodite and to the people of the city. Only 27 rows can be seen out of the ground today seating 10,000 people in 11 segments.
There is a wall in the theatre called “archive wall” it got its name from the writings on it. You can see letters from the Roman Emperors and agreements between neighboring countries. In 1970 Prof. Kenan Evrim found a speech by The Roman Emperor Diocletianos about inflation at the year of 285.
The orchestra and stage was remodeled in the second century and was designed for gladiator and animal fights at that time. An earthquake damaged this gorgeous theater in the 7th century.
You can’t stop yourself climbing to the highest point of the theater to let the magic of this ancient city fill your soul. Your lover will wonder why you look so beautiful in this ancient city. Does the beauty come from your smiling eyes full of excitement or from the magic of the goddess of love and beauty the goddess Aphrodite?
If it is autumn then take a pomegranate fruit from the pomegranate tree at the highest point and eat it. It said that the pomegranate you eat from the tree that is the closet to the sun is the most savory and the most delicious. It is believed that the pomegranate from that pomegranate tree has a magic of beauty, which fills your blood.
You will see the spas of the ancient city next. The first excavated by French engineer Paul Glaudin between 1904-1913. Italian Gulio Jacopi continued the excavations in 1937. The sculptures from the interior of the spa are at the museum in Istanbul but you can see the heads of the consoles in the local museum. You can see 2 statues of Aphrodite and some angel statues in the spa area. On the south of spa, you can see the Gymnasium and the ruins of a Roman house with two balconies. The portico, you can see its fine columns, was dedicated to Tiberius and lies from the front of spa to the east door of the agora.
If you follow the road you will find yourself in the agora, the street bazaar. The Agora is the center of the ancient city and has a 100-metre pool, which was the biggest pool of its time. Now you will see huge ‘kavak’ trees, which brings the sweet sound of the wind to your ears. At the north of the agora you will see a marble Odeon where concerts were performed. The stages and some seats of the Odeon are still standing.
You will see pomegranate trees and its delicious fruit on the way to the temple of Aphrodite and Venus. The goddess of love, Aphrodite was brought together with the Anatolian mother goddess Kybele the symbol of their union is abundance. The temple has a mosaic floor from the 3rd century B.C. This temple was built in the 1st century B.C and some columns were added at the time of Hadrianus. In the 5th century it was turned into a basilica.
The door of the path, which takes you to Aphrodite temple, is named Tetrapylon, which means four doors. Next to the Tetrapylon you will see the grave of Prof. Kenan Evrim who dedicated his life to this ancient city.
Don’t think that the magnificent beauty of the ancient city is finished. On every step you will find more secrets around every corner in Aphrodite’s city. You won’t want to leave the city before you see it all.
Your next stop is an ellipse hippodrome. 227-metre long the hippodrome can hold 60 thousand people. The largest ancient hippodrome in Turkey was built in the 1st century for gladiator fights and races. The Hippodrome lies in a valley. Until you are at the very top you can’t imagine how gorgeous the view is. When you see the whole hippodrome from this vantage point, you would not believe that this magnificent hippodrome was built centuries earlier. You will see the mountains, the valley and the whole ancient city before you. You will feel the magic of this ancient city in the air and you will want to sit and watch gladiator fights on these steps from centuries before.
At the end of your tour, visit the Aphrodisias museum. You will see sculptures of Aphrodite and Herakles and other important people of the ancient city. You will learn that this ancient city was the most important place for art and sculpture in its time as well as the study of science and philosophy.
My advice is that you should start your visit as early as possible because there is too much to see in this ancient magical place. If you have been here before, and if you are driving around you should stop by again. Every time you visit, you will make new discoveries.
You will always remember Aphrodisias as being the most beautiful ancient city you have ever seen.
