Turkey Property | Aphrodisias 

Named in honour of the goddess Aphrodite, this ancient capital was bedecked in vast marble buildings, engravings and statues, many of which are still standing to this day.

The Greeks made Aphrodisias the foremost of their colonies in Lydia and soon set about beautifying the city that had once been known as Lelegon Polis (city of the Leleges), Megale Polis, and Ninoe.

Fine marble from the nearby quarry afforded Aphrodite's city fine sculptures, from the monumental gates which were restored in the 1990s to their Nike-adorned splendour, to the agora, Aphrodisias' ancient market place. Built in the first century BC, it was a popular meeting place for the ancient residents, who would meet to chat and barter in the covered walkways (porticos).

Not far from the agora are the Baths of Hadrian, built during the reign of the second century emperor who built the wall in the far away province of Britannia. As with all fashionable bath houses, it consisted of the four large rooms of the tepidarium, sudatorium, apoditerium and frigidarium (warm room, sweating room, dressing room and cold room respectively).

Excavated a century ago by the French, it had a large amount of corridors, channels and furnaces as well as a number of artistic works.

Being devoted to her, Aphrodite of course had a large, fine temple. Some of the finest sculptures of the time worked on decorating the marble, though all that remains are columns, testimony to the once-great halls of worship.

However, she was not alone in receiving worship. The Sebastion is thought to have been dedicated to the worship of the deified emperor Augustus (Sebastos is the Greek form of Augustus, Rome's first emperor). Only the foundations now remain.

Aphrodisias' remarkable collection of fine buildings does not end with temples though. The stadium is regarded as one of the finest in the Levant, 282 metres long, 59 metres wide and capable of holding 30,000 cheering spectators as athletes raced and opponents clashed. Not only is it large, but it is testimony to the engineering genius of the ancients since the concave design means that no one blocked the view of others.

While locals enjoyed the games, that was not all that they engaged in, for a theatre and odeon provided entertainment. In addition, the fine civic house, the Bouleuterion, is a semicircular auditorium and the lower rows still remain and is thought to have once been roofed and graced with arched windows.

The city prospered under both Greeks and Romans but suffered a devastating earthquake in the fourth century BC, one so bad that the water table shifted and made parts of the city prone to flooding. Engineers countered this, converting the agora into a nymphaeum to control the water supply.

However, the earthquake was not the only alteration. Christianity saw the name change to Stavrapolis - city of the cross - and dedications to Aphrodite removed. The bishop built his palace on her old temple, showing some continuation in use for the building.

But it was another earthquake in the seventh century, coupled with the Arab invasion, that finally ended the prosperity of the city and all that remains now is the village of Geyre.

Yet while the city in the south-west of Turkey is no longer populated, it lives on as an active place for archaeological excavations by New York University, bringing up more discoveries for the public. The museum, one of the finest in the region, displays many of the finds, though with so many marble inscriptions abounding, visitors do not need to necessarily visit this to see some of the wonders of the past. Turkey property owners and visitors wanting to experience the culture of Turkey will enjoy the museums and the ancient sites.

Did you know that Turkey has two of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World? Click here to find out more.