Aphrodisias and Kuşadası

 Day 11: Ancient Aphrodisias and Kuşadası Tue, May 05, 2026

We'll work our way west toward Turkey's Aegean Coast, where ancient Greek colonists settled 2,500 years ago.

Freed from the "establishment" norms of Athens, these communities thrived as centers of learning and creativity

- and wealth. This morning, we'll tour the ancient site of Aphrodisias, which, under Greek and Roman rule alike, prospered as a center for the arts. After lunch together we'll continue on to the lively harbor city of Kuşadası.

The Roman Theatre of this site, both from the front and inside. 

Random sites 

The following 5 pictures are from …..The Temple of Aphrodite was begun in the late first century BC by C. Julius Zoilos, a leading citizen. In the first century AD, the surrounding lonic columns were erected by several local families. The temple was then enclosed in an elaborate colonnaded court or sanctuary area, in the second century AD.

Around AD 500, the temple was converted into a Christian church, the local cathedral of St. Michael - an enormous undertaking. The columns from the short ends of the temple were moved and used to extend the north and south colonnades. The inner temple chamber or cella was completely dis-mantled, and its blocks were re-used in the construction of new walls outside the columns, enclosing the whole building.

The resulting basilical church was much larger than the pagan temple it re-placed. The church remained in use until c. 1200, when its roof was set on fire in the course of a frontier raid launched from Seljuk Konya. The building today is essentially as it was after this violent episode.

This is how people in Turkey saw Aphrodite, not so much as sexy, but as fertility, often picturing her with many breasts. 

The city was large enough over 25,000 to have a senate.  Here is our tour group pretending to be senators.  

Roman Bath house 

The Stadium at Aphrodisias is the best-pre-served stadium in the ancient world. It is 270 m long and originally had 30 tiers of seats and space for some 30,000 spectators. Unusually both ends are closed by curved seat-ing. It was built in the first century A.D. to house traditional Greek athletic contests, such as boxing, wrestling, and foot races.

The stadium was also used for gladiatorial combats and wild-beast hunts that were an important and popular part of festivals in honour of the Roman emperor. After the decline of traditional athletics, the east end of the running track was converted in c. A.D. 400 into an amphitheatre-style arena for such games.

 The first of 3 pictures of it, show from where the chariots or gladiators would have come in. 

After exploring we went to lunch and were serenaded by this man and his parrot that was singing along . 

…..Time has gone by so fast.  Just one more day of this Rick Steves tour and I will have to say goodbye to new friends and to Turkey.