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Aphrodisias & Hierapolis Turkey
Aphrodisias & Hierapolis
Turkey
One of the best preserved
ancient cities is the city of Aphrodisias near Aydin.
The city of Aphrodisias contains a clovershaped church
dating from the Byzantine period. A crypt is found in
the adjacent cemetery which is
strongly believed to be that of a saint. In an
excavation done in Aphrodisias in 1961 a palace
believed to be the seat of a Cardinal was discovered at
a site near the ancient odeon. The palace is in the
shape of a three-leafed clover consists of numerous
rooms and salons and has a very luxurious bath made of
seven shades of blue marble.
One of the important cities of the Byzantine period is
the city of Hierapolis at Pamukkale. The nave of the
basilica found here has been divided by columns and
this structure was most likely a cathedral. It is
believed that the side naves were roofed by cradle
vaults. The middle nave was made up of three sections,
all covered with domes. This city had a setond
basilica as well. This basilica stood outside the city
walls and strongly resembles the Roman Maxentius
Basilica with its three naves. Excavations carried out
at the Necropol by an Italian team have unearthed the
remains of an octangular structure having a diameter of
twenty meters and covering a 60-62 square meter area.
This building was
built at the end of the 4th or the beginning of the 5th
century AD and is accepted to be the Cathedral of
St.Philip the Martyr.
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