1. SAGALASSOS
A Roman Legend…

2. historical setting
The first traces of human presence
in the territory of Sagalassos consist
of hunting or flint producing
campsites dating back to the
Epipalaeolithic (ca. 12,000 BP).
They belonged to hunter-gatherers
who probably ventured from the
coastal areas inland following the
Kestros River (Aksu) in search for
game and flint. At the beginning of
the Holocene, during the late 9th
millennium BC, climatic
improvement resulted in the
spreading of woodland in the
region. The presence of woodland
provided settlers practicing a
mixed farming and hunter-
gatherer economy ideal
conditions for farming, animal
breeding and hunting, which
eventually resulted in the
emergence of permanent
settlements along the borders of
Lake Burdur. Yet, farming and
animal husbandry did not affect all
communities simultaneously and
groups of hunter-gatherers must
have coexisted besides societies
practicing farming, herding or
both.
This photo was taken from the theatre building. The students
are exploring the site.

3. Situation
The archaeological site of Sagalassos is
located in South-West Turkey, near the
present town of Ağlasun (Burdur province),
roughly 110 km to the north of Antalya
(ancient Attalia). Sagalassos is set in the
western part of the Taurus mountain range
which is bordered to the north by the high
Anatolian plateau, while to the south it
touches the Mediterranean. In ancient
times, this region was known as Pisidia. The
town, which is laid out on south-facing
terraces at altitudes between 1450 and
1600 m, is crowned by a steep, and today
barren, limestone range of about 1800 m Antonine Nymphaeum (Fountain)
high, extending in the east to the peaks of
the formidable Akdağ (2271 m). The
transition between a layer of limestone on Roman Heroon from the Augustan period
top of less permeable ophiolitic and flyish
deposits at this place resulted in
advantageous hydrological conditions in
which several permanent springs are
situated. The inland position and
mountainous character of Pisidia make the
Oro-Mediterranean climatic regime more
pronounced in this region, where summers
are short, hot and mainly dry and winters
colder and wetter than those in the
coastal regions.

4. location
ITS LOCATION IN TURKIYE
Our
Town The Ancient
City of
Sagalassos

5. Ancient city map

6. why did people settle on this
mountain slope?
Grand Colonnaded Street

7. who lived here, when?
Theatre

8. how did they make a living?
Imperial Bath

9. when did they leave and why?
Theatre under snow
A view of Sagalassos
from the top of the hill

10. how was the site rediscovered ?
The ruins of the site were
rediscovered in 1706 by
a French traveller, Paul
Lucas, who at the
request of the French
King Louis XIV undertook
a travel in
the Ottoman Empire.
Yet it took until 1824 Bouleuterion (Council Hall)
before the English
reverend F.V.J.Arundell
deciphered the
name of Sagalassos in a
local inscription.
Doric Temple

11. What does the name Sagalassos mean?
Does it have a connection with Ağlasun?
(the district is called Ağlasun now)
Sagalassos is a typical Luwian Library building
name. However, its meaning
is not known.
Ağlasun is derived from the
name Agalassu recorded as
early as the 11th
century AD, when one bishop
of the city was called ‘Bishop
of Agalassu’.
The Seljukid Turks living in
Ağlasun adopted and
adapted the name for their
site in the valley below the
ancient city. Thus, there is a Library building (inside)
clear connection
between the two names.

12. ANCIENT ROME IN YOUR MODERN
TOWN DECEMBER 2011
 THE CENTRAL VOCATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL OF TRADE,
BURDUR TURKIYE / E - TWINNING PROJECT GROUP