Antioch of Pisidia, the former capital of ancient Pisidia, is located in central Anatolia, northeast of Lake Egirdir. Both Antioch and Egridir are important points on the famous pilgrimage route - the path of the Apostle Paul. In one of his travels, Paul, leaving Perge, walked a difficult path through the mountains and steppes and reached Antioch of Pisidia (there were more than a dozen cities with the name “Antioch” in the ancient world, so the specification “Pisidian” or “Antioch in Pisidia” is mandatory) .
During our trip to Central Anatolia we visited several ancient cities. All of them were very different, although they had mandatory attributes, such as a theater on a mountain slope, necropolises, temples, and agoras. But the terrain and relief and their combination with the majestic ancient buildings each time created a separate, unique masterpiece.
We couldn’t miss Antioch of Pisidia either.
City `s history
The city was founded in the 3rd century BC. Hellenistic ruler Seleucus and named him in honor of his father. When the Romans occupied these lands, they first handed over this city to their allied Pergamum. And when the city came under the direct control of the Romans as part of the province of Galatia, the Roman colony of Caesarea was founded here, where veteran legionnaires began to settle.
An important trade route, Via Sebaste, passed through the city, which attracted Jewish traders here. The Jews had a synagogue here, and it was to them, members of the local Jewish community, that Paul went to preach the teachings of Christ. And then the pagans began to gather at his sermons. It is believed that it was in Antioch of Pisidia that the Apostle Paul first began to preach to the pagans.
The Jewish community soon expelled Paul and the apostle Barnabas, who accompanied him, but Paul subsequently visited here twice more.
During the Byzantine period there was a bishopric in the city. When the Turks came here, they founded their city of Yalvach somewhat to the side, and the old city was gradually abandoned.
Literature
- Nikephoros Bryennius
Historical notes (976-1087) (inaccessible link) - Smbat Sparapet
. Chronicle / Transl. from ancient Armenian; preface and note. A. G. Galstyan. Yerevan: Hayastan, 1974. - Brun S.
P. Romans and Franks in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia XI-XIII centuries. M.: Maska, 2015. Volume I—II. - Stepanenko V.P.
The State of Filaret Varazhnuni (1071-1084/86) // Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Sverdlovsk, 1975. Issue. 12. pp. 86-103. - Stepanenko V.P.
On the dating of the seal of Tavtuk, proedr and katepan Samosata // Antiquity and the Middle Ages. 1995. Vol. 27. pp. 58-62. - Yahya Antioch
Chronicle (extracts) - Bouchier Ed. S. A short history of Antioch: 300 BC-AD 1268. 1921.
- Downey G.
A history of Antioch in Syria: from Seleucus to the Arab conquest (inaccessible link). Princeton University Press, 1961. - Downey G. Ancient Antioch. Norman, 1963.
- Liebeschuetz JHWG Antioch: City and Imperial Administration in the Later Roman Empire. Oxf., 1972.
- Wallace-Hadrill DS
Christian Antioch: a study of early Christian thought in the East. 1982. - Cribiore R. The School of Libanius in Late Antique Antioch. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007.
- Kurbatov G.L. The main problems of the internal development of the Byzantine city: (Antioch in the 4th century). L., 1971.
- Antioch-on-the-Orontes: The Excavations. L.; Princeton, 1934-1972. Vol. 1-5.
City tour
Unfortunately, the stones of ancient Antioch were largely used to build the new Turkish city. But what remains is enough to understand what ancient Pisidian Antioch was like.
The city was located on a wide plateau and was slightly elevated above the surrounding area. At the same time, the territory of the city itself is quite flat.
To the north rise low mountains, from where an aqueduct stretched to the city. The remains of the aqueduct have been preserved.
Entrance to the archaeological zone costs 10 liras. The museum is open from 8-00 to 19-00.
Gates
The museum office is located at the western gate, through which we entered the city. The gate itself has not survived, but you can understand what it was like from the foundations and modern drawings.
This is what the gate looks like now
and so in ancient times
A wide road leads from the gate into the city, along which shops and stores used to be located. Here and there you come across the remains of columns and bas-reliefs.
City streets
The road ends at Cardo Maximus. She, as expected, intersects with Decuman Maximus.
As you know, Roman cities were built according to a regular plan, where the cardos were oriented from north to south, and the decumans were oriented from west to east.
Cardo Maximus herself
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Theater
To the left of Cardo Maximus you can see the remains of a theater
Square and Temple of Augustus
The street leads to the wide and solemn Square of Augustus, in the depths of which the remains of the Temple of Augustus have been preserved. This area was cut into the rock. And this place, perhaps, impressed me most in this city.
ruins of the Temple of Augustus
and this is how it looked in ancient times
Near the square there are the ruins of the so-called “central church”.
Forum
From this church there is a Decuman, ending in a forum (market square), where there was a fountain (nympheon).
Decuman
ruins of nympheon
and this is what a nympheon looked like in ancient times
Baths
Baths were located nearby. What is a Roman city without baths? Their ruins are, as always, impressive.
But little remains of the northern church.
