When you visit Sagalassos, you have to wonder why Alexander bothered with the subjugation (for despite their heroics, the Pisidian defenders were eventually overcome) of this seemingly remote and obscure mountain town. The answer lies in its location. Controlling the crucial road linking the prosperous cities on the Mediterranean coast to the major trade artery running west-east across Anatolia (the Persian Royal Road) Alexander could not afford to leave his supply routes open to the depredations of marauding Pisidians.
Despite its capture, with Alexander himself leading the uphill assault, Sagalassos prospered under the rule of his successors. The inhabitants gradually adopted Greek language and culture, a process known as Hellenization. The town fared equally well in the Roman period. Emperor Augustus made it a free city, and added to its population by settling retired legionary soldiers there. After much reorganization, it became part of the province of Galatia. Many superbly crafted public buildings were erected and the town grew and prospered. Unfortunately it seems that the good citizens of Sagalassos were forced to abandon their beautiful town in the seventh century following Arab incursions and a devastating earthquake.
What is really surprising about Sagalassos is how little-known it is, given the grand scale on which it was built, the quality of its remains and its imposing mountain location. In 1706, a French traveler, Paul Lucas, became the first Westerner to see the ruins of this remote site, and reported back in amazement to his sponsor, Louis XIV. In the 19th century, William Hamilton declared the area to be the best preserved he had ever come across.
Remote and difficult to access, it wasn't until the 1980s that a British-Belgian team of archaeologists began to give Sagalassos the attention it deserved. In 1990, the site began to be excavated in a major way by the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. Since then, a team of hardworking and enthusiastic archaeologists, led by Marc Waelkens, have returned to this magnificent mountain site each summer. In 2002, Waelkens' efforts were recognized when he was awarded the Medallion for Outstanding Service, the most prestigious award Turkey can give to foreigners. The excavations are about far more than merely uncovering impressive buildings and artifacts (including the magnificent statue of Hadrian) for the delectation of casual visitors, and the multi-disciplinary team specializes in everything from structural geology and tectonics to the urbanization and Romanization of Asia Minor under the Flavian emperors.
Due to the hard work of the Belgians, we know that Sagalassos' prosperity was based on the production and export of grapes and olives, and a fine-quality pottery known as Sagalassos red slipware. This, plus its control of one of the major trade routes between the Mediterranean and central Anatolia, enabled its inhabitants to build the lavish monuments you can see today.
Clearly,within your Turkey vacation, Sagalassos is simply a must-see. So, what exactly is there to see? A good place to start is the theater dating from the second century, to the northeast of the town. The seats of the semi-circular auditorium are well-preserved, and afford wonderful views across the fertile valley below, the ongoing excavations of the site to the Southwest, and the magnificent backdrop of the over 2,200-meter-high Akdag (White Mountain in Turkish). Below it, the Doric Fountain House, partially cut from the natural slope of the hillside, is remarkable. The actual spring supplying the fountain house with water in ancient times was reused by the Belgian team in their reconstruction of the building, using only original materials, between 1990 and 1992, filling the troughs with crystal-clear water -- just as they were in Roman times.
Even more impressive than the Doric Fountain House is the Antonine Nymphaeum, built during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 161-180). Facing the higher of the ancient city's twin agorae (market places), it is an impressive 28 meters long, composed of an elaborate façade with richly decorated pediments, intricately carved Corinthian capitals and a central semi-circular niche where a 4.5-meter-high cascade plunged into the basin below. Above this is a finely preserved Hellenistic heroon (a temple to a demigod or deified hero) with its beautifully worked frieze of dancing girls. In addition to these fine buildings are a 3,000-seat Odeon, a monumental Roman baths complex (originally standing three stories high) and a council room. The Neon-Library, named after its benefactor, Flavius Neon, has been dated to A.D. 120. Its rectangular niches once held a vast array of written documents, but of most interest to today's visitors is a later addition
Particularly in spring, the site and its environs are of great interest to botanists and birdwatchers. The main background vegetation for the site, which is just above the tree line, is Jerusalem sage, which flowers with yellow rosettes in late May. At this time the hillsides are covered with a variety of flowering plants as well, including aubrietia, various muscari, star of Bethlehem and types of purple vetch.
At the entrance to the site, a former guardian has planted walnut and fruit trees, and these host migrating warblers. You can sometimes see birds of prey, especially honey and long-legged buzzards over the site, çukar (a kind of partridge) and kestrels on the approach road. But the real delights in spring are the small passerines, each marking out his territory with birdsong. Corn bunting and black-headed bunting (with bright yellow chests) are the most vocal, but stonechat, rock sparrow, goldfinch and linnet are frequently seen and heard.
Sagalassos is undoubtedly off the beaten track -- certainly more so than in classical times. If you want to see a large, remarkably well-preserved and skillfully reconstructed classical site in a dramatic mountain environment (avoiding the hordes of tourists at coastal sites like Ephesus and Pergamum) Sagalassos is the place to choose. In spring, the hills are carpeted in wildflowers and birdsong rings across the peaks and valleys. For me the best season is winter, when the grey limestone seats of the theater are thrown into vivid relief by ribbons of drifting snow and Akdag rears its icy head above the market places, temples, bath houses and streets of this remarkable place.
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Fingertip facts How to get there:
Antalya is the largest nearby city. Turkish Airlines, Onur Air, Atlas Jet and Pegasus operate frequent daily flights from 0stanbul. There are also plentiful connections from Ankara. SunExpress connects Antalya directly to 0zmir.
There are plenty of rental car outlets in Antalya at the airport or, for a cheaper price, from Fevzi Çakmak Caddesi or Kaleiçi, both in the city center. Allow a couple of hours for the drive, heading north towards 0sparta and taking the signed (Burdur, Aglasun and Sagalassos) left, 15 kilometers south of Isparta, for the village of Aglasun, seven kilometers below the site.
Alternatively, minibuses run to Aglasun from Isparta's dolmus garage, but you'll have to take a cab from there to reach Sagalassos ruins.
Kerem Aldar