Aphrodisias (Ancient Greek:Ἀφροδισιάς), sometimes calledAphrodisias of Cilicia to distinguish it from thetown of the same name in Caria, was a port city ofancient Cilicia whose ruins now lie nearCape Tisan inMersin Province,Turkey.[1]
Aphrodisias is situated onCape Tisan near the town ofYeşilovacık in the rural area ofSilifkeilçe (district) which itself is a part of Mersin Province. The ancient name of this region wasCilicia Trachea ("rugged Cilicia") So it is customary to call the ruins Aphrodisias of Cilicia to distinguish it from the better-knownAphrodisias inAydin Province. The ruins are at the east side of the cape facingDana Island and Tisan Island. The coordinates of the ruins are36°09′27″N33°41′26″E / 36.15750°N 33.69056°E /36.15750; 33.69056 The highway distance to is Silifke 50 kilometres (31 mi) and toMersin is 133 kilometres (83 mi).
The foundation date of the ancient settlement is unknown. But it was a port ofPtolemaic Egypt in the fourth century BC. The settlement was incorporated into theSeleucid Empire and later into theRoman Empire. In the marine bookPs.Skylax written in 101 AD, the settlement was namedCap Aphrodisias. During the early Middle Ages when the port was a part ofByzantine Empire, it was namedPorto Cavaliere. Then it faded away. The location of the long forgotten ruins was discovered byAustrian ArchaeologistRudolf Heberdey in 1891.[2]
The famousGreek physicianXenocrates was from Aphrodisias.
There are ruins of a necropolis, a cistern, city walls and floor mosaics of a 4th-century church namedSt. Panteleon (The church was a temple prior toChristianity).[3] In 1987, the German archaeologistLudwig Budde published his bookSt. Pantaleon von Aphrodisias in Kılikien about the church. He had studied the remaining architecture as well as the mosaics in thenave and in one sideaisle.[4] But many remaining mosaics are not unearthed yet.[5]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Aphrodisias".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
36°09′29″N33°41′09″E / 36.157963°N 33.685873°E /36.157963; 33.685873
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