At a Glance

• Location: Near Geyre, Aydın Province, southwestern Turkey
• Coordinates: 37.7073° N, 28.7288° E
• Period: c. 3rd century BC – 7th century AD
• UNESCO inscription: 2017
• Excavations: Begun 1961 by Kenan Erim (New York University)
• Access: Site museum on-site; open year-round

Key Facts

Named for

Aphrodite, goddess of love — the city’s patron deity whose marble temple (2nd century BC) dominated the urban center

The stadium

30,000-seat structure measuring 262 m × 59 m; the best-preserved ancient stadium in the world, with all seating tiers intact

Marble quarries

On-site quarries of blue-white Carian marble — the finest in Asia Minor — gave Aphrodisian sculptors a material advantage that made them famous across the empire

The Sebasteion

A 3-story honorific portico (c. AD 20–60) with 80 narrative relief panels depicting Roman emperors Tiberius, Claudius, and Nero alongside Aphrodite, Heracles, and mythological heroes

History

Settlement at the marble-rich site in Caria dates to the Bronze Age, but the city as an urban entity emerged around the 3rd century BC, organized around the sanctuary of a local fertility goddess who merged seamlessly with the Greek Aphrodite. Julius Caesar and Augustus favored the city — the goddess’s name offered useful dynastic symbolism for a family that claimed divine descent from Venus — and showered Aphrodisias with privileges including tax exemption and freedom from Roman governors.

Under imperial patronage the city flourished for five centuries. Its sculptors, who signed their work with the city’s name in Greek letters, received commissions in Rome, Athens, and across the eastern provinces. When Christianity replaced the old religion, the Temple of Aphrodite was converted into a cathedral by simply reversing the orientation of its columns — the structure still stands, transformed but intact. An earthquake in the 7th century AD and subsequent Arab raids ended urban life; the site accumulated silt and sediment until it disappeared under the village of Geyre.

Systematic excavation began in 1961 under Kenan Erim of New York University. Erim devoted thirty years to the site, returned season after season until his death in 1990, and was buried — at his own request — in the site museum he helped build. UNESCO inscribed Aphrodisias on the World Heritage List in 2017.

What You See Today

Stand in the stadium and the scale of ancient entertainment becomes physical: tier upon tier of marble seating rises around you, as complete as any sports venue in use today, utterly silent now above the wheat fields of the Maeander Valley. The Temple of Aphrodite’s 14 surviving Ionic columns frame a sky that has changed less than everything below it.

The Sebasteion reliefs — moved to the on-site Aphrodisias Museum — are among the finest narrative sculpture from the Roman world: Nero as world conqueror, Claudius subduing Britannia, Aphrodite presiding over order. The tetrapylon (monumental gateway), the baths, the agora, and the odeon complete a townscape rare in its completeness.

The Sculptors of Aphrodisias

No other ancient city exported its artists so systematically. Aphrodisian sculptors — identifiable by the workshop signature ΑΦΡΟΔΙΣΙΑΣ inscribed on statue bases — worked at Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli, at the Library of Celsus in Ephesus, and in Roman private collections from Spain to Syria. Their access to superior local marble, combined with a tradition of virtuoso carving passed through generations of workshop families, gave the city an artistic identity that survived the fall of the empire in name and material form.

Practical Information

• Opening hours: Daily 08:00–19:00 (summer); 08:00–17:00 (winter)
• Entry fee: Museum and site combined ticket; Turkish lira accepted on site
• Best season: April–June and September–October; summers are hot (35°C+)
• On-site museum: Houses the Sebasteion reliefs, portrait gallery, and Kenan Erim’s tomb
• Facilities: Café, gift shop, parking

Getting There

• By road: From Denizli (55 km east) or Aydin (100 km west) via D585; follow signs to Geyre/Afrodisias
• By bus: Dolmuş from Karacasu (8 km); Karacasu served by buses from Denizli and Nazilli
• Nearest airport: Denizli Çardak Airport (70 km); Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport (190 km)
• Guided tours: Day trips available from Pamukkale (50 km); combination tours common

Nearby

• Pamukkale / Hierapolis — Travertine terraces and Greco-Roman city, 50 km northeast; UNESCO World Heritage Site
• Laodikeia — Early Christian city mentioned in Revelation, 60 km northeast; active excavations
• Karacasu — Nearest town (8 km); local markets and accommodation
• Denizli — Regional hub with hotels, restaurants, and transport connections

Sources

• UNESCO World Heritage — Aphrodisias
• Wikipedia — Aphrodisias
• NYU Aphrodisias Excavations Project
• Erim, Kenan T. Aphrodisias: City of Venus Aphrodite. New York University Press, 1986.
• Smith, R.R.R. and Bryan Ward-Perkins, eds. The Last Statues of Antiquity. Oxford University Press, 2016.