Nejdet Duzen
Aizanoi, Turkey
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Settlement in the area is known from the Bronze Age. The city may have derived its name from Azan, one of three sons of Arcas and the nymph Erato, legendary ancestors of the Phrygians. During the Hellenistic period the city changed hands between the Kingdom of Pergamum and the Kingdom of Bithynia, before being bequeathed to Rome by the former in 133 BC. After becoming part of the province of Asia, the city continued to mint its own coins. Its monumental buildings date from the early Empire to the third century. Site of a bishopric under the early Byzantine Empire, after the seventh century the city fell into decline. Later, in Seljuk times, the temple hill was converted into a citadel (Turkish: hisar) by Çavdar Tatars, after which the recent settlement of Çavdarhisar is named. Aizanoi was rediscovered by European travellers in 1824. Survey work in the 1830s and 1840s was followed by systematic excavation conducted by the German Archaeological Institute from 1926, resumed in 1970, and still ongoing.
Aizanoi, Turkey
Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved Contact: nejdet_2005@hotmail.com
Settlement in the area is known from the Bronze Age. The city may have derived its name from Azan, one of three sons of Arcas and the nymph Erato, legendary ancestors of the Phrygians. During the Hellenistic period the city changed hands between the Kingdom of Pergamum and the Kingdom of Bithynia, before being bequeathed to Rome by the former in 133 BC. After becoming part of the province of Asia, the city continued to mint its own coins. Its monumental buildings date from the early Empire to the third century. Site of a bishopric under the early Byzantine Empire, after the seventh century the city fell into decline. Later, in Seljuk times, the temple hill was converted into a citadel (Turkish: hisar) by Çavdar Tatars, after which the recent settlement of Çavdarhisar is named. Aizanoi was rediscovered by European travellers in 1824. Survey work in the 1830s and 1840s was followed by systematic excavation conducted by the German Archaeological Institute from 1926, resumed in 1970, and still ongoing.