Antioch on the Maeander

This article is about the historical city in ancient Caria. For the much larger city in ancient Syria, see Antioch.
Antioch on the Maeander
Antioch on the Maeander is located in Turkey
Antioch on the Maeander
Shown within Turkey
LocationAydın Province, Turkey
Coordinates37°52′24″N 28°32′50″E / 37.873333°N 28.547222°E / 37.873333; 28.547222

Antioch on the Maeander or Antiochia on the Maeander (Greek: Ἀντιόχεια τοῦ Μαιάνδρου; Latin: Antiochia ad Maeandrum), earlier Pythopolis, was a city of ancient Caria, in Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey. The city was situated between the Maeander and Orsinus rivers near their confluence. Though it was the site of a bridge over the Maeander, it had "little or no individual history".[1] The scanty ruins are located on a hill (named, in Turkish, Yenişer) a few kilometers southeast of Kuyucak in Turkey's Aydın Province, near the modern city of Başaran, or the village of Aliağaçiftliği.[2] The city already existed when Antiochus I enlarged and renamed it. It was home to the sophist Diotrephes.[3]

The Venus de Milo is believed to have been sculpted by a citizen of Antioch named [...]andros (possibly Alexandros).[4]

In 1148 the army of the Second Crusade forced a passage of the Maeander at Antioch in the face of determined Turkish resistance in the Battle of the Meander.[5] In 1211 the city was the site of the Battle of Antioch on the Meander between the Byzantine rump Empire of Nicaea and the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm.

The town has not been excavated,[citation needed] although Christopher Ratté and others visited the site in 1994 and produced a sketch plan. They observed a well-fortified Byzantine site, occupying some 60 to 70 hectares (150 to 170 acres). The remains of a Roman stadium 200 metres (660 ft) in length are also visible.[6]

  1. ^ "The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, AACHEN, see AQUAE GRANNI, ANTAS ("Metalla") Sardinia, Italy. ANTIOCH ON THE MAEANDER Turkey". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  2. ^ Richard Talbert [Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World], Princeton University Press, 2000, Map 65, H5 and Map-by-map Directory, p. 997]
  3. ^ William Hazlitt The Classical Gazetteer (1851) Archived July 9, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Venus de Milo". Oxford Reference. Retrieved Oct 25, 2021.
  5. ^ Thonemann, Peter (2011). The Maeander Valley. Cambridge University Press. p. 7. ISBN 978-1-107-00688-1. Retrieved Oct 26, 2021.
  6. ^ Smith, R.R.R.; Ratté, Christopher (Jan 1996). "Archaeological Research at Aphrodisias in Caria, 1994". American Journal of Archaeology. 100 (1): 5–33. doi:10.2307/506295. JSTOR 506295. S2CID 192585517. Retrieved Oct 26, 2021.