Aphrodisias Travel Guide
Travel to Aphrodisias - Turkey’s Best-Preserved Ancient Theatre
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A remote site well off the beaten track Aphrodisias is a stunning ancient city that never fails to reward travellers who make the effort to see it; visit and in all likelihood you’ll be able to explore the site completely alone. The city enjoyed a reputation for being a centre of culture, with craftsman excelling at and becoming renowned for sculpture and there is much to see today.
Aphrodisias is high on the must-see list for those travellers who come to discover Turkey’s ancient sites. Finds date back 6000 years but the city was most prominent in Hellenistic times as the centre of the popular Aphrodite cult and subsequently under the Romans, who remains are those most in evidence today. The cult of Aphrodite was already well-established when the Romans favoured the city for the inhabitants’ support during an uprising, bestowing special privileges on it and allowing it to become a major pilgrimage centre.
Attractions in Aphrodisias
With visits from important personalities of the time and the patronage of emperors fine buildings were erected and many of these remain today and include the Temple of Aphrodite, a superb tetrapylon, a magnificent theatre, agora, baths, a hippodrome and of course wonderful sculpture. The on-site museum holds statuary which illustrates the skill of these ancient artists and gives us a glimpse of just how beautiful the city must have been in its hey day.
Activities in Aphrodisias
Aphrodisias is best explored on foot. Allow around a half-day for the site and museum. Visits should ideally be part of a wider sightseeing trip as the site is remote.
Relaxing
Most travellers to Aphrodisias do not spend the night in the area, opting instead to head to Pamukkale or south to one of the coastal towns.
Getting Around
Aphrodisias is one of the remoter sites lying some 40km south of the main highway between Aydin and Denizli and is both difficult and time consuming to get to by public transport. The best option is to visit the site en route to or from Pamukkale with a driver-guide.
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