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- October 13, 202617°
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Minister Ersoy announces: 2,000-year-old Theater Street unearthed at Aspendos
Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy announced that excavations at the ancient city of Aspendos have uncovered an approximately 300-meter-long section of the 2,000-year-old Theater Street. The statues, mosaics and Phoenician coin found along the street shed light on the ancient city's rich history.
Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy made a notable social media post about the ongoing excavations at the ancient city of Aspendos. Minister Ersoy announced that an approximately 300-meter section of the 2,000-year-old Theater Street, one of the ancient city’s most important thoroughfares, had been unearthed.
In his post, Ersoy stated that visitors can now trace the city’s millennia-old traces step by step along the historic route stretching from the ancient theater to the acropolis.
Street width ranges from 3 to 5 meters
According to a statement from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the street, which begins north of the Agora and extends to the ancient theater, follows the valley between the Roman State Basilica and the Temple, reaches the East Square and from there continues to the city entrance gate on the eastern walls.
During the excavations, shop entrances and side street connections were also uncovered along the Theater Street, whose width varies between 3 and 5 meters. The bread oven on the northern side of the street, which has survived to the present day with all its architectural elements, was among the most notable finds of the excavation. It was determined that the walls on both sides of the road, which reach a height of 2.5 meters in some sections, were built using the ‘opus mixtum’ technique combining stone and brick.
Statues, mosaics and a Phoenician coin discovered
The excavations also brought to light statues of Hermes, Artemis, Aphrodite, Eros and Nemesis, as well as geison-sima blocks, architrave fragments and numerous architectural elements. The findings revealed that the structure was built between the late 2nd century AD and the early 3rd century AD.
The Young Eurymedon Mosaic of the Aspendos River God, found on the floor of the pool structure in the East Square, was also among the area's prominent discoveries. Minister Ersoy stressed that the Phoenician coin and glass artifacts recovered during the excavations underscore Aspendos’s important position in the powerful trade networks of the Eastern Mediterranean.
To the south of the structure identified as the ‘Theater Street Eastern Monumental Gate,’ a fountain with an exedra plan and two spaces built on a terrace were identified.
Ersoy concluded: "With our ‘Legacy for the Future’ approach, we will resolutely continue to protect, uncover and carry our cultural heritage into the future through scientific work."
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