We are traveling to a site that you are going to feel as you will travel in time. The name of this site is Iconium and every ancient era civilizations (even later) left some traces in the region. Let’s travel in time and have a tour in Iconium ;

Firstly we are in early ages of history. This region is being used as the settlement area for hunting and agriculture. They are creating a civilization here. Those settlement areas are developing and Empires’ era is coming. Hittites are dominating the region. They are leaving the first samples of hieroglyphic tablets ( before Egyptians) then Phrygians and Kimmers are coming. Lycians, Persians and Macedonians are following them. This site knows how to survive despite of those invasions. Then Romans and Byzantines are coming. We can see temples and samples of Roman engineering. Also it is one of the earliest Christian settlement area so we can come across the sample of oldest churches and basilicas. Iconium has some visitors. They are St.Paul and Barnabas. Thanks to its location, it is an important trade center. Then Turks settled the region and the city is still living.

Iconium is the site where you can see famous characters of history. It makes here a special place for a time traveler. It is also basis of today’s Konya.

Amyzon ancient site is one of the sites that has outstanding features. This site is located in Aydın province. Amyzon had some outstanding features in history.

Amyzon was a Carian military patrol. It was built in IIIth century BC. There were important political events such as treaties. There used to be Apollo and Artemis temples in the city. It was surrounded by the city walls. Amyzon had a military importance in addition to architectural features. Carians built a base here and it was the patrol on the north end.

The most important point on the site is to do the necessary plans to get detailed information on here. Illegal excavations ruined some parts of the city. We can see some Carian soldiers during our visit.

Hamaxia ancient site is located nearby Alanya county of Antalya province. It is one of the sites that had less importance rather than others. This is Hamaxia;

Hamaxia was constructed on a field that was full of cedar trees. Those trees were materials of vessels in that age. Famous geographer Strabon visited this site and reported notes on this site. It was located in Pamphylian region. The city was decorated with fountain and religious facilities. There used to be a temple in the name of Hermes in the city. The public of Hamaxia wasn’t as rich as other sites. Hamaxia had the best days in Roman and Byzantine periods.

Hamaxia ancient site isn’t the one that wasn’t shining like others. But it was the source of cedar trees. Vessels were made of cedar tress. This is the feature that made this small town special.

Sillyon ancient site is one of the glorious sites of Antalya province. As a similar to others, Sillyon had various facilities such as theater and baths. The difference of this site is its lifetime. The physical proofs show us that there had been settlement till Ottoman period. This is the story;

Sillyon was constructed before Roman Period. It was an independent city state. It was a glorious site with various facilities such as baths and stadium. It was surrounded by city walls and also it was a diocese in Byzantine period. It was a sport city. Many sport facilities were built such as gymnasium and stadium. Cisterns and water sources were very important to live here. There used to be a spring named “Malaria spring”. The settlement had continued for a long time. Turks settled the region and built their own facilities.

You can travel in any period at this site. You can come across traces of Romans and Byzantines, also Seljuks and Ottomans. It is one of a few settlement areas with this feature. Briefly it is a site where you can go back till Roman period at least.

As we always state, Turkey has a lot of historical legacies from the past. Some of them are famous and some of them are forgotten or some of them can be unknown. Isaurapolis or Zengibar Castle is the one that is forgotten or not known very well. It is located in Central Anatolia ( Konya province). We have a few information on this site. Let’s listen to Isaurapolis;

Isaurapolis was constructed on the peak of the hill that was able to watch a wide area. It was the city that was surrounded with city walls by Isaurans. The city was shining and glorious. It had great buildings including basilica and acropolis. They were huge and great buildings. City walls were strong and it made the city safer. Victory monuments were the symbols of the city. One of them was built in the name of Emperor Hadrian. Probably the wars and attacks weakened the defensive power of the city and it became ruin by the time.

Finally it was forgotten. But the city was so big that none of the components destroyed. Their gates or walls are still standing. It is just waiting for attention and archeological excavations. It is a worth visiting site in order to travel in time.

Tlos ancient site is another site of Lycian state. It had a glorious scenery including stadium and rock tombs. This is the story;

Tlos was one of the earliest settlement area of Lycia. It was dated back to 14th century BC. Hittites and Lycians recorded this site’s acropolis that was very impressive in various names. Bellerephontes’ tomb was a very important building with the relief that Pegasus had a war with Chimera (three headed dog). It is believed that Pegasus was living here with Bellerephontes. The facilities such as baths,churches and theater were the important components of the inner side. Stadium was the most important facility because Tlos was known as sport city. Also other tombs were attractive. Tlos was another diocese in Lycian region. There had been settlement since 12th century AD.

It is located in the border of Muğla province. It is one of the greatest ancient sites in Muğla. It’s worth visiting in order to travel in time.

Limyra ancient site isn’t an ordinary site because Limyra was the capital of Lycia. This is the story;

Limyra was constructed in 5th century BC. It became the capital of Lycian state. It was also a developed city. Theater and monuments were important buildings of the site. Limyra had an important visitor; son of Caesar, Gaus Caesar. He came here when he was going back to Rome. But he couldn’t go back because he died here. So a monumental tomb was built for him. The skirts of hills were full of rock tombs and hillside houses. The population was big. Also a church and a necropolis were built on the peak of the hill. It was an important site for ancient site. Also it was a diocese in the region.

Limyra ancient site had an important role in history. Lycian state accepted this site as capital. It is one of the worth visiting sites in Turkey.

Some of the ancient sites are forgotten in this landscape unfortunately. But it doesn’t mean that they are ordinary sites. Every settlement area had their own features like today. All of them are parts of a puzzle named history.

Astra ancient site is one of them. It is located between Central Anatolia (Konya province) and Mediterranean region. So it is like a junction site. That is the story;

Astra was built as Roman city as it is thought. It had a wide area for settlement and there were many reliefs in the site. The most outstanding feature of the site was ceramic ovens. The ceramic ovens show us that it was an important place for ceramic manufacturing. It is the proof of economical value of the site in Roman period.

Even tough we have those data on this site, it is the fact that the archeological excavations haven’t been done enough. We know that only some important buildings and some items were unearthed. It is required more interest and investment to unearth all site.

As we mentioned that Mediterranean region has a lot of special ancient sites. Unfortunately some of them are missing. We lose them because of urbanization. Magydos ancient site is one of them. It is the ancient site that is located in border of Antalya province.

It is thought that it is dated back to 4th century BC. It had an autonomous ruling order. The city had coins printed in Roman Empire period. It was a port city and it had great beaches. The site was surrounded with walls and there were various buildings in the site.

Urbanization and ignorance are enemies of historical sites. They are our treasures, we have to take care of them.