Sayı 11- Ocak/Mart 2013 - Antalya Rehberler Odası

Aizanoi: The City of Azan,The Grandson of Zeus / Part II“Imagine a city with a river running through it, guidedby a channel of regularly cut stones, with crossings byway of ornate marble bridges, with gleaming marblebuildings, temples, theater, stadium, baths, bazaarsand market places, a stock exchange building, paths,as well as shops, restaurants and ponds on bothsides…” this city was: AIZANOIMüge ERİTEN APALI,Tour GuideThe temple was surroundedby galleries such as the Agora,the Heroon and the DoricPeristyle Court.As we know, Heroon are thosestructures which were builtto honour those persons whowere recognized as deified-God-like heroes, after theirdeath, and this structure in Aizanoi,which is dated to the 2 ndcentury A. D. is thought to havebeen the tomb structure mostprobably of one of the notablesof the city. The structure wasbuilt on top of a podium coveredin marble. The southwestwall is still standing, and thereare the traces of the stairs ascendingto the temple with podium,to the northwest. And theAgora stretched towards thesoutheast. Eight arched structuresin a straight line remainstanding here. It is understoodthat this area around the sanctuaryor temple, and which wascalled the Temenos in ancientGreek was entered througha columned archway. It isthought that the upper parts ofthese arches were ornamentedwith vegetation, camellias,and sculptures. The marketplace(agora) used to extendtowards the east and southFoto:Kütahya İl Kültür ve Turizm Müdürlüğü Arşividirections of these arched andvaulted structures. When goingtowards the south fromthese vaulted structures, theremains of a structure madeof marble is seen. It is thoughtto have been a church or oneof the buildings belonging to azadegan*.The Bath and Gymnasium:According to the ancientsources, we know that therewere two baths in Aizanoi. Thebath structure, the remainingparts of which we can see insitu and with a gymnasiumand palaestra surrounded byporchs for body exercises,is located 100 m. from thewest side of the temple. Thisplace was once very famous,with a symmetrical plan ofthe classical type of Romanbaths. The bathing rooms(frigidarium and caldarium)are in the middle of the buildingcomplex, and many sideplaces were built. There usedto be statues in the niches in* Zadegan: From a noble, clean and well-known lineage, from a well-known family, aristocratic