Ancient Sites in Turkey
Turkey travel guides. Must-see ancient sites in Turkey, one of the top travel destinations in the world.
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Discover these most popular ancients sites in Turkey. Turkey sparkles with its numerous attractions of universal historical significance and continues to be a multilayered cultural landscape that draws thousands of visitors year after year.
Must-See Ancient Sites in Turkey
Here is an list of most popular ancient sites in Turkey:
Aphrodisias, Aydin
Aphrodisias and its marble quarries are among Turkey’s most important archeological monuments, located in Aydn’s Geyre village. The site’s enormous temple, consecrated to Aphrodite and now serving as a symbol for the city’s historical glitz, was built in the 3rd century BCE, a century before the city and its marble quarries were built.
Dydima, Aydin
Didyma was not a city but a center of worship, located on what was originally known as the Sacred Way, which connected it to Miletus. It was well-known in antiquity for its famous oracle, which meant a prophecy, and the huge Temple of Apollo.
Ephesus, Izmir
The ancient city of Ephesus, a UNESCO World Heritage site nestled among some lush green olive orchards, was a seaport that witnessed mankind’s path toward a more established life from the Neolithic period onward. It dates from the 7th millennia BCE and is located in the seashore region of Izmir on the Aegean coast.
Hierapolis, Denizli
Denizli’s Hierapolis, which was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988, is one of the most well-known and often visited ancient sites in the Aegean Region of Turkey.
The site, named for the wife of Pergamon’s fabled founder Telephos, is said to have been founded by the Attalid kings of Pergamon at the end of the 2nd century BCE. Hierapolis literally means “divine city.”
Kaunos, Dalyan
Kaunos is an archeological site that was once a prominent port city but lost that function as alluvial deposits from the sea filled its basin and isolated it from modern-day Sülüklügöl (Lake with Leeches).
The location is well known for its rock tombs, which can be seen from Dalyan while cruising down the Aegean Sea. They are thought to have been built in the 4th century BCE. Three rock beds make up these Lycian-style tombs, which have an ornate façade.
Miletus, Aydin
The ancient seaport of Miletus, which is now located in Aydn’s modern Söke district, dates back to the Neolithic period and retains its significance as a center point in the history of philosophy. The foundations of rational philosophy, geometry, and astronomy were established here.
Here resided Thales, Anaximenes, Anaximandros, Isidoros, one of the Hagia Sophia’s builders, and Hippodamus, the “Father of City Planning” for inventing the grid urban plan.
Pergamon, Izmir
Pergamon Ancient City, on the Turkish Aegean coast, near the present-day Bergama district of Izmir, was formerly the capital of the Hellenistic Attalid dynasty. Its theatre, which is built on a sloping ground encircled by a large city wall, is the steepest in the ancient world and provides breathtaking views of the sea.
The city’s architecture, art, medicine, culture, and education represented Pergamon’s classical magnificence. With the development of Pergamenese Paper, also known as parchment, the Library of Pergamon, the ancient world’s second largest, was able to compete with the Library of Alexandria, which had a collection of over 200,000 books.
Priene, Aydin
The ancient city of Priene, located 10 kilometers from the Aegean Sea on a forested slope between the towering cliffs of its acropolis, is steeped in history as an ancient city of Ionia. Its name is derived from the Luwian word “Citadel.”
Sardes, Manisa
Sardes is the name of the ancient Lydian Kingdom’s devastated capital, where money was developed. It was dominated by the ancient acropolis, which was located in a favourable site surrounded by the lush plain of the Gediz River. It also became a significant Christian center, as one of the Seven Churches of Revelation was built there.
Smyrna Agora, Izmir
Smyrna Agora, now Bayrakli in the city of Izmir, is rectangular in shape, as befits the region’s grid city structure. The Hellenistic, Roman, Eastern Roman, Beylik (Principalities), and Ottoman periods are all represented. The Port was also home to one of the seven churches of revelation and was visited by two key apostles, St. Paul and St. John.
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