Hierapolis

The title of this article is ambiguous. Further meanings are listed under Hierapolis (disambiguation) .

Main street with north gate

View from the Odeon over the Hierapolis excavation site

Ruins of the "Red Basilica " at the necropolis

Agora in Hierapolis

Hierapolis ( Greek  Ἱεράπολις "Holy City", occasionally Hieropolis ) was an ancient Greek city in the Phrygia landscape in Asia Minor (today Turkey , on the mountain above Pamukkale ), located on the edge of the Lykos Valley on the road in the Hermos Valley from Sardis to Apamea in Phrygia . The place was already famous in antiquity for the warm springs whose water below the city gave rise to the white limestone terraces of Pamukkale. The water was used to dye wool: weaving and textile trade formed the basis of the city's wealth.

history

Even if the city, as a presumably old Cybelekult shows, probably existed earlier, the oldest evidence comes from the 3rd century BC. BC, when it was newly founded by Antiochus II , as well as its neighboring city Laodikeia on the Lycus . Older traces of settlement are covered by layers of travertine . The city was destroyed by earthquakes in 17 AD, but then rebuilt in an expanded form. Thermal baths , fountains, theaters and temples were built in the first and second centuries . The numerous sarcophagi and graves in the area ( necropolis ) also date from this period . All buildings survived the armed conflicts between the Turks and Byzantines until they were completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1334. The church father Papias of Hierapolis was bishop here in the second century and mentions that he personally knew the daughters of the apostle Philip , who is said to have spent the last years of his life in Hierapolis, and that he heard from them about the apostles.

Attractions

• Odeon from the time of Hadrian
• the agora
• the nymphaeum
• City gates
• the main cobbled street
• Temple buildings
• The plutonion
• Roman baths (some of which were converted into religious buildings in early Christian times)
• the necropolis

necropolis

More than 1200 graves lie in front of the north gate of Hierapolis. They belong to the largest ancient city of the dead in Asia Minor. House-shaped sarcophagi can be found there, temple-shaped houses of the dead and tumulus graves , inside of which there is often a burial chamber with benches. Numerous inscriptions provide information about the dead. 2000 years and earthquakes have left their mark on the graves.

On the northern necropolis there is also the sarcophagus of Marcus Aurelius Ammianos , which is important for the history of technology , on which the first known water mill is depicted, which works with a transmission mechanism consisting of a crankshaft and connecting rod .

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  Sarcophagi and houses of the dead

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  temple-shaped house of the dead

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  Tumulus grave

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  "Grave of Gladiators"

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  Tomb in a sinter terrace

Modern times

Pamukkale and Hierapolis are traditional destinations for vacationers in Antalya . Over the past few years, the steady increase in day-trippers has been put on hold: Hotels within the historical complex have been torn down, fences have been erected and hawkers banned. The hotels used to lead the calcareous water first into their pools, in which it cooled down and the limescale precipitated, so that the water from the pools was no longer suitable for maintaining the limestone terraces. With the demolition of the hotels, the water is now being directed back onto the terraces and the terraces are being rebuilt there. The damage caused by mass tourism, which used to be free to enter the terraces, has been and will be repaired over time. The current excavation and reconstruction works are being carried out under the direction of Italian universities.

literature

• Klaus Belke , Norbert Mersich: Phrygien und Pisidien , Tabula Imperii Byzantini , 7. Vienna 1990, pp. 268-272.
• Francesco D'Andria: Hierapolis in Phrygia (Pamukkale): an archaeological guide . Istanbul 2003, ISBN 975-807-070-3 .
• Tullia Ritti; Klaus Grewe, Paul Kessener: A Relief of a Water-powered Stone Saw Mill on a Sarcophagus at Hierapolis and its Implications . In: Journal of Roman Archeology , Vol. 20 (2007), pp. 138-163.
• Klaus Grewe: The relief representation of an ancient stone saw machine from Hierapolis in Phrygia and its significance for the history of technology . In: Martin Bachmann (ed.): Construction technology in ancient and pre-ancient Asia Minor. International conference 13.-16. June 2007 in Istanbul . Istanbul 2009, ISBN 978-975-807-223-1 (Byzas, Volume 9), pp. 429–454 ( PDF; 2 MB ( Memento of May 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive )).

Web links

Commons : Hierapolis  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Entry on the UNESCO World Heritage Center website ( English and French ).
• 230 pictures of the classic city and 80 from the museum.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Papias ( Memento of the original from July 9, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .In: Eusebius: Hist. Eccl. III. 39.9.  
2. ↑ Tullia Ritti, Klaus Grewe, Paul Kessener: A Relief of a Water-powered Stone Saw Mill on a Sarcophagus at Hierapolis and its Implications , in: Journal of Roman Archeology , Vol. 20 (2007), pp. 138-163 (161 ).

Coordinates: 37 ° 56 '  N , 29 ° 8'  E