Sagalassos ( Greek Σαγαλασσός ) is an ancient city and an important archaeological site in southwestern Anatolia (modern Turkey ), its ruins are located at a distance of about 100 km north of Antalya , not far from modern. Turkish city of Aglassun (distorted name of Sagalassos). It was one of several cities in the historical region of Pisidia . It is based on the western slope of the Taurus Range. In 333 B.C. e. the city was conquered by Alexander the Great. In 25 BC e. the city became the capital of the Roman province of Galatia . The remains of ancient monuments of the city have a pronounced Roman character, the cult of the emperor Hadrian (117-138) was formed in the city, a large number of Roman veterans settled here, which was quite unusual for Hellenized Anatolia. The remains of a 5-meter statue of Emperor Hadrian have been preserved.
| Ancient city | |
| Sagalassos | |
|---|---|
| Greek Σαγαλασσός | |
 | |
| Founded | VI century BC e. |
History
The remains of the archaeological site are located at altitudes from 1,400 to 1,600 meters above sea level. At the beginning of the VI century there was a strong earthquake. Then one more, in the middle of the VII century. As a result, water outages and epidemics began. With the general decline of urban ancient culture, its inhabitants began to leave the city little by little and moved to the valley. Nevertheless, in the Byzantine era, the life of the Greek-Christian community in the city was warm until the beginning of the 13th century, when the final stage of the Turkish conquest began. Judging by the destroyed Byzantine fortress, relations between the Christian inhabitants of the city and the arriving Turks were hostile. For this reason, the Turks began to settle not in the city itself, but in a separate village on its outskirts [1] . As the excavations of Sagalassos showed, the process of Muslimization and Turkization of the city was not peaceful, and the Greek-Christian population resisted it until the beginning of the XIV century [2] .