Listed 6 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "ATTALIA Ancient city TURKEY" .
Attaleia or Attalia (Attaleia, Attalia: Eth. Attaleus). A city of
Pamphylia. After mentioning Phaselis in Lycia, Strabo mentions Olbia as the first
town in Pamphylia, then the river Catarrhactes, and then Attalia, a city founded
by Attalus II. Philadelphus, king of Pergamum. Accordingly he places the Catarrhactes
west of Attalia. Ptolemy mentions Phaselis, Olbia, and Attaleia, and then the
Catarrhactes. Pliny mentions Olbia, but not Attalia (v. 27), though he mentions
the Catarrhactes. The modern town of Adalia, now the largest place on the south
coast of Asia Minor, corresponds in name to Attalia; but it is west of the Catarrhactes,
now the Duden Su. Strabo describes the Catarrhactes as falling from a high rock,
and the noise of the cataract was heard to a distance. It is generally assumed
that Strabo means that it falls over a rock into the sea; but he does not say
so, though this may be his meaning. Beaufort (Karamania, p. 135) observes, that
on the west side of the town there are only two small rivers, both of which glide
quietly into the sea through the sandy beach, and can by no means answer the description
of the Catarrhactes. But there are many small rivulets which turn the mills near
Adalia, and rush directly over the cliff into the sea; and if these rivulets were
united, they would form a large body of water. (Beaufort.) The water of these
streams is full of calcareous particles, and near some of the mouths stalactites
were observed. It is very probable, then, that the lower course of this river
may have undergone great changes since Strabo's time, and these changes are still
going on. D'Anville considered Adalia to represent Olbia, and Attalia to be further
east at a place called Laara, and he has been followed by others in identifying
Adalia and Olbia; but this erroneous opinion is founded entirely on the order
of the names in Strabo, who is contradicted in this matter by Ptolemy and the
Stadiasmus. Spratt and his associates visited Adalia. The houses and walls contain
many fragments of sculpture and columns: the cemeteries which are outside of the
city also contain marble fragments and columns. The style of all the remains,
it is said, is invariably Roman. Fourteen inscriptions were found, but not one
of them contains the name of the place. As Adalia is now the chief port of the
south coast of Asia Minor, it is probable that it was so in former times; and
it is an excellent site for a city. Paul and Barnabas after leaving Perga went
to Attalia, and thence sailed to Antioch. (Acts, xiv. 25.) The church of Attalia
was afterwards an episcopal see. There are imperial coins of Attalia, with the
epigraph Attaleon.
Leake, who fixes Attalia at Adalia, supposed that Olbia might be found
in the plain which extends from Adalia to the foot of Solyma; and it ought to
be found here, according to Strabo's authority. About 3 1/2 miles west of Adalia,
near the coast, there are the remains of an ancient city, on an elevated flat
with three precipitous sides, one side of which is bounded by the Arab Su. This
agrees with Strabo's description of Olbia as a great fort. The country between
these ruins and Adalia is a rocky tract, incapable of cultivation, but the country
west of them to the mountains of Solyma, is very fertile. This, as it is well
observed in Spratt's Lycia (vol. i. p. 217), will explain Stephanus (s. v. Olbia),
who finds fault with Philo for saying that Olbia belongs to Pamphylia: he adds,
it is not in Pamphylia, but in the land of the Solymi; and his remark is conformable
to the physical character of the country. He says, also, that the true name is
Olba. Mannert's conjecture of Olbia and Attalia being the same place, cannot be
admitted. Strabo, in an obscure passage, speaks of Corycus and Attalia together.
Leake (Asia Minor, p. 192) interprets Strabo, by comparing with his text Stephanus
(s. v. Attaleia) and Suidas (s. v. Korukaios), to mean that Attalus fixed Attalia
near a small town called Corycus, and that he inclosed Corycus and the new settlement
within the same walls. This does not appear to be exactly Strabo's meaning; but
Corycus was at least near Attalia, and received a colony and was fortified when
Attalia was built.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
A city on the coast of Pamphylia, founded by Attalus II. Philadelphus, and subdued by the Romans under P. Servilius Isauricus.
City in Pamphylia founded by Attalos II Philadelphos, probably before
150 B.C. After the end of the Pergamene kingdom in 133 Attaleia seems to have
been left free; it remained so even after the formation of the province of Cilicia,
but was finally annexed to Rome by Servilius Isauricus in 77. Proof is lacking
that the city had been involved with the pirates to any considerable extent. Attalein
served as a base for Pompey in assembling his fleet in 67 B.C., and a visit by
Hadrian in A.D. 130 was the occasion for much restoration and embellishment. At
a comparatively late date Attaleia appears with the title Colonia. In Byzantine
times, when much more mention is made of the city, the bishop of Attaleia came
under the metropolitan of Perge-Sillyon, until in 1042 he was raised to the rank
of metropolitan.
Whether Attaleia was founded on the site of an earlier town or city
is disputed. Strabo's words (667) are none too clear, but certainly do not imply
that Attaleia replaced a town of Korykos; and the old idea that Antalya is the
site of Olbia is quite untenable. The harbor, though small, is nevertheless the
best natural harbor on this coast, and it is likely enough that there was some
earlier habitation. If so, however, the name is unknown.
Nothing is standing today apart from the fortifications. No theater,
stadium, temple, or any public building has ever been located. The wall circuit
remains virtually whole, but only a few sections in the N part have been dubiously
attributed to Attalos' original foundation. The rest, as it now stands, dates
from the time of Hadrian or later, with much subsequent repair and reconstruction,
including many reused stones, some sculptured or inscribed. Many of the towers
are well preserved and contain more ancient work. Seven gates are identifiable;
the Gate of Hadrian, on the E side of the circuit, is the most impressive.
At the extreme end of the wall on the S side stands a tower quite
unlike the rest; it is known today as Hidirlik Kulesi. It is thought to have always
been isolated and not to have formed part of the wall circuit. It is in two stories,
the lower square, the upper round, both excellently preserved. The total height
is 14 m. The lower story consists of a nearly solid mass of masonry, in which
a passage leads from the door on the E to a small room in the center; short passages
lead off from this towards the other three sides. At ground level on the outside
a door in the N wall leads to a narrow staircase ascending in the thickness of
the wall to the foot of the round upper story; a second similar stairway leads
to the top of the building. Here a circular wall with crenelations surrounds a
platform open to the sky; in the center is a solid rectangular base 4.56 m thick,
resting on a vaulted substructure. Its purpose has been disputed; it may have
served as a base for a lighthouse or for artillery. A suggestion that the whole
building is a mausoleum is clearly improbable.
The Gate of Hadrian has recently been cleared and reconstructed. It
is a triple-arched gateway of familiar form and carried two dedications to Hadrian.
One was on the architrave in letters of bronze and was evidently the dedication
of the gate itself; the other, seen only by early travelers, seems to have been
placed on the upper story of the gate, related perhaps to a statue of the emperor.
There can hardly be a doubt that the building was erected on the occasion of Hadrian's
visit in A.D. 130.
The three arches are all the same size, their undersides decorated
with cassettes containing shallow-cut rosettes and flowers. In front of each of
the four piers of the gate, on the inner and outer sides, stood an unfluted granite
column on a high plinth; the rest of the building was of white marble. The capitals
are in the Composite order, the bases Attic, and the epistyle was richly decorated
with ovolo and leaf moldings. The upper story has disappeared.
The new museum in Antalya houses sarcophagi from Perge, epichoric
epitaphs from Aspendos, and reliefs of the twelve gods from Lycia.
G. E. Bean, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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