5/5 Mobin M. 8 months ago on Google
Ephesus
had
two
agoras
(gathering
places
or
market
places),
the
Upper
State
Agora
or
Public
Agora
(Eleuthera
Agora)
and
the
Lower
Commercial
Agora
(Tetragonos
Agora).
The
Upper
Agora,
in
the
Upper
City,
was
in
the
city's
administrative
precinct,
with
a
group
of
official
buildings
such
as
the
council
meeting
place
(the
Bouleuterion
or
Odeion)
and
law
courts.
Like
the
Lower
Agora,
it
was
first
built
during
the
Hellenistic
period,
and
completely
redesigned
during
the
Roman
period.
As
was
usual
in
Greek
and
Roman
cities,
a
number
of
monuments,
statues
and
inscriptions,
and
practical
constructions
such
as
water
fountains,
were
set
up
around
the
agora
over
the
centuries.
To
the
north
of
the
agora
were
the
Upper
Gymnasium,
the
Bouleuterion
and
the
Prytaneion.
Between
the
latter
two
bulidings
stood
the
"Temenos"
(τήμενος,
sanctuary),
a
colonnaded
courtyard
in
which
stood
an
altar
or
two
small
temples.
The
agora
square
was
surrounded
by
stoas
(roofed
colonnades)
on
all
four
sides.
Along
the
north
side,
the
long,
narrow
Roman
Basilica
Stoa
replaced
a
Hellenistic
single-aisled
stoa.
In
the
centre
of
the
west
side
of
the
square
itself
was
a
small
peripteral
temple,
thought
to
have
been
dedicated
either
to
Divus
Julius
and
Dea
Roma,
Augustus
or
Isis.
On
the
south
side
was
a
Hellenistic
gate
of
the
2nd
or
1st
century
BC.
On
the
southwest
corner
stood
the
monumental
Hydrekdocheion
("Water
Palace"),
also
known
as
the
"Fountain
of
Gaius
Laecanius
Bassus".
To
the
west
of
the
agora
stood
the
Temple
of
Domitian,
which
was
the
first
Neokoros,
centre
of
the
Roman
Imperial
cult
in
Asia
Minor,
in
Ephesus.
Little
has
survived
of
this
enormous
sanctuary,
but
the
row
of
vaults
which
formed
part
of
its
substructure
now
house
the
Inscriptions
Museum.
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