TRAVEL TUESDAY 388 - HIERAPOLIS, TURKIYE

“The theatre, our theatre, comes from the Greeks.” - Edward Bond

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Hierapolis (Ancient Greek: Ἱεράπολις, lit. "Holy City") was originally a Phrygian cult centre of the Anatolian mother goddess of Cybele and later a Greek city. Its location was centred upon the remarkable and copious hot springs in classical Phrygia in southwestern Anatolia.

Its extensive remains are adjacent to modern Pamukkale in Turkey. The hot springs have been used as a spa since at least the 2nd century BC, with many patrons retiring or dying there as evidenced by the large necropolis filled with tombs, most famously that of Marcus Aurelius Ammianos, which bears a relief depicting the earliest known example of a crank and rod mechanism, and the Tomb of Philip the Apostle.

It was added as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. In the archaeological site operates since 1957 the "Italian Archaeological Mission of Hierapolis of Frigia" (MAIER), currently directed by Grazia Semeraro, Professor of Classical Archaeology of the University of Salento.

The Roman Theatre (photo above) was probably constructed under the reign of Hadrian after the earthquake of 60 AD. The façade is 91 m long, the full extent of which remains standing. In the cavea there are 50 rows of seats divided into seven parts by eight intermediate stairways. The diazoma, which divided the cavea into two, was entered by two vaulted passages (the vomitoria). There is an Imperial loge at the middle of the cavea and a 6-foot-high (1.83 m) wall surrounding the orchestra.

An earthquake in Hierapolis in the 7th century caused the collapse of the entire building as well as the ultimate abandonment of the city. Since the 18th century, the monument's striking ruins have become a recurrent theme in European travellers’ descriptions and engravings. The theatre has been the object of important restorations between 2004 and 2014.

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