SAGALASSOS A Roman Legend…

historical setting

This photo was taken from the theatre building. The students

are exploring the site.

The first traces of human presence in the territory of Sagalassos consist

of hunting or flint producing campsites dating back to the Epipalaeolithic (ca. 12,000 BP).

They belonged to hunter-gatherers who probably ventured from the coastal areas inland following the Kestros River (Aksu) in search for

game and flint. At the beginning of the Holocene, during the late 9th

millennium BC, climatic improvement resulted in the

spreading of woodland in the region. The presence of woodland

provided settlers practicing a mixed farming and hunter-gatherer economy ideal

conditions for farming, animal breeding and hunting, which

eventually resulted in the emergence of permanent

settlements along the borders of Lake Burdur. Yet, farming and

animal husbandry did not affect all communities simultaneously and groups of hunter-gatherers must have coexisted besides societies

practicing farming, herding or both.

Situation

Image 10 Image 10 of 10

Antonine Nymphaeum (Fountain)

Roman Heroon from the Augustan period

The archaeological site of Sagalassos is located in South-West Turkey, near the

present town of Ağlasun (Burdur province), roughly 110 km to the north of Antalya

(ancient Attalia). Sagalassos is set in the western part of the Taurus mountain range which is bordered to the north by the high

Anatolian plateau, while to the south it touches the Mediterranean. In ancient

times, this region was known as Pisidia. The town, which is laid out on south-facing terraces at altitudes between 1450 and

1600 m, is crowned by a steep, and today barren, limestone range of about 1800 m

high, extending in the east to the peaks of the formidable Akdağ (2271 m). The

transition between a layer of limestone on top of less permeable ophiolitic and flyish

deposits at this place resulted in advantageous hydrological conditions in

which several permanent springs are situated. The inland position and

mountainous character of Pisidia make the Oro-Mediterranean climatic regime more pronounced in this region, where summers are short, hot and mainly dry and winters

colder and wetter than those in the coastal regions.

ITS LOCATION IN TURKIYE

Our

Town The Ancient

City of

Sagalassos

location

Ancient city map

why did people settle on this

mountain slope?

Grand Colonnaded Street

who lived here, when?

Theatre

how did they make a living?

Imperial Bath

when did they leave and why?

Theatre under snow

A view of Sagalassos

from the top of the hill

how was the site rediscovered ?

Bouleuterion (Council Hall)

Doric Temple

The ruins of the site were rediscovered in 1706 by a French traveller, Paul Lucas, who at the request of the French King Louis XIV undertook

a travel in the Ottoman Empire. Yet it took until 1824 before the English reverend F.V.J.Arundell deciphered the

name of Sagalassos in a local inscription.

What does the name Sagalassos mean? Does it have a connection with Ağlasun? (the district is called Ağlasun now)

Library building

Library building (inside)

Sagalassos is a typical Luwian name. However, its meaning is not known. Ağlasun is derived from the name Agalassu recorded as

early as the 11th century AD, when one bishop of the city was called ‘Bishop of Agalassu’. The Seljukid Turks living in Ağlasun adopted and

adapted the name for their site in the valley below the ancient city. Thus, there is a clear connection between the two names.

THE CENTRAL VOCATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL OF TRADE,

BURDUR TURKIYE / E - TWINNING PROJECT GROUP

ANCIENT ROME IN YOUR MODERN

TOWN DECEMBER 2011