Iassos was an ancient city in Caria which occupied a small peninsula joined by an isthmus to the mainland. According to Strabo, Iassos was a celebrated fishing place and its harbour made it an important commercial centre. Today, it is an extensive multi-period site located on the shores of the Gulf of Güllük halfway between Didyma to the north and Halicarnassus to the south.
According to tradition, Iassos was colonised in the 9th or 8th century BC by Greeks from Argos (the Dorians). Archaeological evidence, however, shows that the site had been inhabited since the Neolithic period and that it flourished as one of the great Minoan and Mycenaean settlements in Asia Minor. Prosperity continued throughout the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods and many of the remains visible today date from the later periods.
Twentieth-century excavations have revealed the Agora which remains date to the time of Hadrian and Antoninus Pius (AD 117 – 161), the bouleuterion (one of the best-preserved buildings in Iassos), temples, including a sanctuary dedicated to Artemis Astias (the patron-goddess of the city) and numerous other buildings. A funerary monument in the form of a Corinthian temple is a very impressive construction dating from the Roman period. It is located inside the courtyard of the “Old Fish Market” which was restored to be used as an open air museum in 1995.
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The Bouleuterion is dated to around the end of the 1st century AD. The dimensions of the structure were 29,5 × 21,75 metres while its capacity has been estimated to 960 spectators.The scaenae frons of the Bouleuterion was two-storey high with Corinthian columns. It was decorated with Dionysiac scenes.The orchestra of the Bouleuterion was decorated with opus sectile.The Agora was entirely reconstructed during Hadrian’s time. Its initial building must have started in the 4th century BC.The Agora. It had a rectangular shape and it was surrounded by porticoes and templesThe Agora.The Agora.The Sanctuary of Artemis Astias.Iassos ruins.The western harbor with the ruins of a Byzantine Tower.A monumental Roman tomb from Iassos. It had the appearance of a small Corinthian temple on a very high podium (Iassos Museum).
Nysa on the Maeander is a true gem of Caria, hidden in the deep valleys of the Aegean. An important Carian centre, the ancient city, was located in the north of the region, 50 kilometres east of the Ionian city of Ephesus. Today, it is a well-preserved archaeological site.
The city rose to prominence under the Romans and was home to the historian Strabo (63 BC-AD 25). Strabo described the city as three towns rolled into one. He mentioned that it was originally called Athymbra, but by the 2nd century BC, the settlement appears to have been renamed Nysa, possibly in honour of the wife of King Antiochus I Soter. Nysa was planned as a city composed of two separate sections on both sides of a mountain cliff.
Important ruins are scattered on the mountain slope from the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods. The well-preserved theatre, rebuilt during the Roman Imperial period, is famous for its friezes depicting the life of Dionysus and the sacred marriage (theogamia) between Persephone (daughter of the goddess Demeter) and the god of the Underworld, Pluto. With its 57 rows of marble seats, it had a capacity of 12,000 people.
The library, dating from the 2nd century AD, is considered Turkey’s second-best preserved ancient library structure after the Celsus Library of Ephesus. The Stadium of Nysa, partially damaged by floods, had a capacity of 30,000 people. The Hellenistic gerontikon (Council House of the Elders), adapted in the 2nd century AD as an odeon, offered room for up to 700 people.
Other significant structures include the Agora (marketplace), the Gymnasium and the Roman baths. The 100 m long Nysa Bridge was the second largest of its kind in antiquity.
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The theatre was first built in the Late Hellenistic period, but the current architectural features date to the 2nd century AD.The scaenae frons of the theatre had 5 doors and was decorated with friezes depicting the life of Dionysus.The cavea consisted of two maeniana (galleries) with 25 and 22 rows of seats.The Stadium was built at the foot of the gorge with rows of seats cut into the steep hillside. It is dated to the Late Hellenistic period.The Roman bridge was a 100 m (328 ft) long substructure spanning the ravine below the theatre. It was the second-largest of its kind in antiquity after the Pergamon Bridge.The library was built around 130 AD. It is considered Turkey’s second-best preserved ancient library structure after the “Celsus Library” of Ephesus.The library contained 16 bookshelves in two stories accessible using wooden stairways. It was renovated around the 4th century AD and finally went out of use as a public building in the 6th century AD.The gerontikon (Council House of the Elders) was originally built during the Hellenistic period and was later adapted as an odeon in the 2nd century AD with a two-storey scaenae frons.The gerontikon (Council House of the Elders) had a capacity of 700 seats and could be entered through a propylon (monumental gate) situated on the main street.The street leads to the entrance of the Agora.The east portico of the Agora (marketplace) covers an area of 113 x 130 meters. The first construction phase of the Agora is dated to the Late Hellenistic Period.The east portico of the Agora (marketplace).
following hadrian photography 