Sagalassos

Upper Agora (public space for markets, etc...)

On the way to Cappadocia we spent the night in Konya.  Konya is the home of the whirling dervishes but there was no "whirling" going on when we passed through -Covid strikes again.  Konya is a very religious Muslim city and at the time was also a Covid hotbed.  So we sprayed everything down with lysol and stayed in our rooms.  On the way back from Cappadocia we took a different route so we could go visit the ruins of Sagalassos. We had a room booked at the Sagalassos Lodge and Spa in the tiny town of Ağlasun (the town was named after Sagalassos).  You could actually see the ruins on the top of the mountain from the lodge.  Driving to the lodge and the next day to the ruins was quite the experience.  Steep and narrow mountain roads with no guardrails!!!  You just cross your fingers and pray that you do not meet another vehicle on the road.  As it turned out we were the only customers in the lodge that night so we were treated royally.  They actually cooked us a nice meal complete with appetizers and a lovely desert.  The meal was topped off with a nice bottle of wine.  It was so nice to be able to sit inside and eat without worrying about being near other people - especially after a long day of driving.  That night the wind howled and the temperature dropped.  In the morning the wind was still howling and it was cold.  But being the brave souls that we are we drove up that mountain anyway.  Sagalassos sits on top of a mountain in the Taurus mountain range at 1700 meters (5,577 feet).  Now first you marvel at how in the world they even built that city up there and secondly you wonder why?  

The ancient road coming into the city

 

Supposedly, the answer to "Why" is defense.  They thought that the top of the mountain would be an easily defensible position.  That turned out not to be true as Alexander the Great who was on his way to conquer Persia thought - oh what the heck why not conquer Sagalassos as well.  After all its on the way.  And he did conquer the city - so much for the "defensible" position.  In the end, after earthquakes, pandemics and other tragedies the folks did finally abandon the mountaintop city and move into the valley.  

Nymphaneum

 

It is hard for me to even fathom how much labor went into constructing this city.  Such opulence and skill.  And the vastness of the ruins give credence to how very large the city was in its heydey.

One of the many statues found

It must have been a majestic site to behold, looking up at that city on the mountain.  And to demonstrate how clever they were the archeologists reconstructed their water system in the Nymphaneum (what a word).

Water collection

 As it turns out we were the only tourists at the ruins that day.  No wonder considering how cold it was up there with the bone chilling wind.  Of course, the pandemic now keeps everyone away.  The only worker there that day was the ticket guy.  Thats it - no gift shop, no hot coffee... nada.  You could easily spend a full day walking around there but we did not.  A fairly quick look around and back to the warm car for the trip back down the mountain.

Vast ruins (this is actually only a very small part)

One thing we did not consider when we chose this route back to Kaş was coming over the mountains back to the coast.  Coming over the mountain into Kaş was a white knuckle experience.  Deidre, Michael and I were all glad it was Steve's turn to drive!  For the most part the roads in Turkey are very good but those mountain roads with their blind turns, numerous switch backs, no shoulder, no guardrails and no run off lane are treacherous.  And did I mention that they are incredibly narrow.  It seemed like it took at least a full hour to get down the mountain to the coast.  But thats Turkey - one mountain after another.