The remains of the ancient town can be visited
Ancient BuildingAydın
Ancient City Tralleis
Tralleis (Greek: Τράλλεις, also Τράλλις: Trallis or Tralles) is an ancient city in Caria. It is located two kilometers north of the center of the modern city of Aydın (Turkey).
According to Strabo, Tralles was founded by Argives and Thracians. After its conquest by Antigonus in 313 BC, the city came under Seleucid rule and was named Seleucia. In the late third century BC, it received various privileges as a polis from Antiochus III. In the Peace of Apamea (188 BC), Tralleis was awarded to the Attalids, the ruling dynasty of Pergamon, and appears in inscriptions under this name. During this period, it was the site of an important sanctuary of Zeus Larasios. After the end of this empire, the city was Roman. After an earthquake in 26 BC, it was temporarily renamed Caesarea Tralleis in gratitude for the reconstruction aid provided by Augustus.
Points of Interest+
On the Topyatağı hill above the city of Aydın, there are excavations of a Roman gymnasium, an agora, a stadium, a theater, a colonnade, and several temples.
Research History+
After visits to the site by several European travelers in the 18th and 19th centuries, Carl Humann and Wilhelm Dörpfeld conducted the first archaeological excavations in 1883–88. This was followed by investigations by Halil Ethem from the Müze-i Humayun ("Museum of the Empire") in Constantinople in 1902–04, and finally by Adnan Menderes University in Aydın in cooperation with the Aydın Museum starting in 1996.
Famous Personalities of the City+
- Apollonius of Tralleis, sculptor (2nd/1st century BC);
- Phlegon of Tralleis, writer (2nd century);
- Anthemius of Tralleis, mathematician and architect (second half of the 5th century–c. 534)
- Alexander of Tralleis, physician (525–605)
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