Allianoi ( el, Αλλιανοί), is an ancient

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...

settlement, with remains dating predominantly from the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

period (2nd century AD) located near the city of

Bergama Bergama is a populous district, as well as the center city of the same district, in İzmir Province in western Turkey. By excluding İzmir's metropolitan area, it is one of the prominent districts of the province in terms of population and is larg ...

(ancient

Pergamon Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; grc-gre, Πέργαμον), also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greece, ancient Greek city in Mysia. It is located from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a ...

) in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

İzmir Province İzmir Province ( tr, İzmir ili) is a province and metropolitan municipality of Turkey in western Anatolia, situated along the Aegean coast. Its capital is the city of İzmir, which is in itself composed of the province's central 11 distri ...

. The site is at a distance of 18 kilometers to the northeast of Bergama, on the road to the neighboring town of

İvrindi İvrindi is a town and district of Balıkesir Province in the Marmara region of Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcont ...

. Allianoi is directly inside the reservoir of the Yortanlı Dam, built by the Turkish State Hydraulic Works. After ongoing discussion in Turkey with regards to preserving Allianoi's ruins, the site was covered with sand and the dam was activated, resulting in Allianoi's complete inundation and destruction in February 2011. One particularity of Allianoi is it being a very recent historical discovery. It was mentioned only once in the 2nd century by the orator and medicinal writer

Aelius Aristides Publius Aelius Aristides Theodorus ( grc-gre, Πόπλιος Αἴλιος Ἀριστείδης Θεόδωρος; 117–181 AD) was a Greek orator and author considered to be a prime example as a member of the Second Sophistic, a group of celebra ...

in his "Hieroi Logoi" (''Sacred Tales'') (III.1), one of the key sources for the knowledge on the science of healing as it was understood at that time. No other writer of antiquity nor any

epigraphic Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

finding known had referred to Allianoi.

Prehistoric times

During the excavations conducted in the forest to the west of Allianoi, a vessel of the type known as

Yortan Yortan is a belde (town) in Yenice district of Karabük Province, Turkey. The town is situated in forests along a tributary of Filyos River at . The distance to Yenice is . The population of the town is 2167 as of 2017. There are several theo ...

(dating from the Early

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

II) was found. On the hills of Çakmaktepe (''Flint Hill'') nearby, a high quantity of

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...

stones were found during surveys. Additionally, two stone axes were unearthed from an earth fill. These findings suggest some form of prehistoric settlement at or near Allianoi.

Hellenistic period

Because of the presence of hot springs, it is thought that there must have been a thermal bath complex already in the Hellenistic period, but probably at a smaller scale than the later Roman site. No architectural material was found in Allianoi belonging to this period apart from a few archaeological and

numismatic Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also includ ...

clues.

Roman period

During the Roman Imperial Period and especially as of the 2nd century AD, consistent with the emergence of a multitude of urban centers in

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

and also with the construction of the famous

Asklepion Asclepieia ( grc, Ἀσκληπιεῖον ''Asklepieion''; Ἀσκλαπιεῖον in Doric dialect; Latin ''aesculapīum'') were healing temples located in ancient Greece (and in the wider Hellenistic and Roman world), dedicated to Asclepius ...

of nearby Pergamon, the number of public works built in Allianoi also increased. Many of the edifices encountered at the site today date from this period. Besides the thermal baths, the bridges, the streets, the

insulae The Latin word ''insula'' (literally meaning "island", plural ''insulae'') was used in Roman cities to mean either a city block in a city plan, i.e. a building area surrounded by four streets, or, later, a type of apartment building that occup ...

, the Connection Building,

propylon In ancient Greek architecture, a propylaea, propylea or propylaia (; Greek: προπύλαια) is a monumental gateway. They are seen as a partition, specifically for separating the secular and religious pieces of a city. The prototypical Gree ...

and the

nympheum A ''nymphaeum'' or ''nymphaion'' ( grc, νυμφαῖον), in ancient Greece and Rome, was a monument consecrated to the nymphs, especially those of springs. These monuments were originally natural grottoes, which tradition assigned as habi ...

were all planned and built during this period.

Byzantine period

Allianoi was still densely populated during the Byzantine period. Nevertheless, as was the case with neighboring Pergamon, the socio-economic fabric of the urban settlement had frayed. Some architectural elements of the Roman Period were re-used by the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

settlers. Utilizing the paved streets of the stoas and streets of the Roman period, succeeding Byzantine populations constructed simpler dwellings. The most important buildings of Allianoi, namely the thermal baths and the nympheum, remained in use for a long time, with some minor alterations. A large church reminiscent of a

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...

was built in the east, while chapels were constructed in and around the settlement. Metal, ceramic and glass workshops were all traceable to this period.

Ottoman period

The site was known as Paşa Ilıcası (''The Thermal Baths of the Pasha'') in the Ottoman Period. While noted in the historical documentation of the vilayet (''province'') of

Aydın Aydın ( ''EYE-din''; ; formerly named ''Güzelhisar'', Ancient and Modern Greek: Τράλλεις /''Tralleis''/) is a city in and the seat of Aydın Province in Turkey's Aegean Region. The city is located at the heart of the lower valley of B ...

, it does not seem to have been used on an extensive scale. The only traces of this period are a few shards of coins. In the beginning of the 20th century, the sub-governor of the region did start an effort to put the spa complex back to use and the big pool section has been partially refurbished. Also, all along the Ottoman period and up to 1979, the Roman Bridge situated to the west of the settlement was used to connect the towns of Bergama and İvrindi.

Present day

The bath complex was partially cleaned of accumulated

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel when ...

in the beginning of the 20th century. Despite continuous flooding, the hot springs section was in use in the 1950s. In 1992, the Roman Bridge that was also still in use was reconstructed with some distortions, disregarding the interests of conservationists. Also, in 1992, some rather shabby reconstruction work had been done in Allianoi itself, as a modern building was constructed over the historical remains. The complex was put out of use after heavy flooding in February 1998. Some of the site has been used as farmland. These recent elements were removed in 2003 by the excavation team and the major parts of the Bath Complex beneath them started to come to light.

Yortanlı Dam

The Turkish State Hydraulic Works devised a plan in 1994 to dam the Ilya River with Yortanlı Dam, creating a reservoir in order to increase agricultural productivity in the region. The Allianoi bath complex lies within the proposed reservoir area, meaning it would be covered in water should the dam project go through. Protests from

ICOMOS The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS; french: links=no, Conseil international des monuments et des sites) is a professional association that works for the conservation and protection of cultural heritage places around the worl ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Europa Nostra Europa Nostra (Italian for "Our Europe") is a pan-European Federation for Cultural Heritage, representing citizens' organisations that work on safeguarding Europe's cultural and natural heritage. It is the voice of this movement to relevant intern ...

, and the EU have done little but to delay the inevitability of the project. As of December 31, 2010, Yortanli Dam started filling water and Allianoi is already under 61 million meter cubic water.

Publications

* YARAŞ A. (2004) "Allianoi", TÜRSAB Magazine, August 2004, * MÜLLER, H., "Allianoi. Zur Identifizierung eines antiken Kurbades im Hinterland von Pergamon ", IstMitt 54, 2004; 215-225. * YARAŞ 1999 A. Yaraş, "Bergama'da İkinci Antik Sağlık Merkezi : Allianoi", Yapı Aylık Kültür, Sanat ve Mimarlık Dergisi, 217 / Aralık, s. 35-38. * YARAŞ 1999 A. Yaraş "1998 Yortanlı Barajı Kurtarma Kazısı", Bergama Belleten 9, s. 44-50. * YARAŞ 2001 A. Yaraş, "Su İçinde Gelen Sağlık, Su İçinde Yok Olan Kültür! ; Allianoi", Toplumsal Tarih, Sayı 85, Ocak, s. 26-29. * YARAŞ 2001 A. Yaraş, "Tanrıçanın Hüznü Allianoi", Atlas 97,Nisan, s.48-66. * YARAŞ 2000 A. Yaraş, "Yortanlı (Bergama) Baraj Havzası’ndaki Tarihsel Miras", Zeugma Yalnız Değil Türkiye'de Barajlar ve Kültürel Miras, Aralık, s. 109-115. * YARAŞ 2001 A. Yaraş, "1998-1999 Bergama Yortanlı Barajı Kurtarma Kazısı" 11. Müze Çalışmaları ve Kurtarma Kazıları Sempozyumu (24-26 Nisan 2000 Denizli), Ankara, s.105-118. * YARAŞ 2001 A. Yaraş, "2000 Yılı Allianoi Kurtarma Kazısı", XXIII. Kazı Araştırma ve Arkeometri Sempozyum Sonuçları, Ankara, (25-30 Mayıs 2001 Ankara), I. Cilt, s.463-478. * YARAŞ 2002 A. Yaraş, "Allianoi " Arkeoatlas sayı 1, s.148-149. * YARAŞ 2002 A. Yaraş, "İzmir’de Yeni Bir Ören Yeri ; Allianoi", İzmir Kent Kültürü Dergisi, Şubat, sayı 5, s.165-170. * YARAŞ 2003 A.Yaraş "Allianoi Geç Antik Çağ Seramik Fırınları", 3. Uluslararası Eskişehir Pişmiş Toprak Sempozyumu, (16-30 Haziran 2003 Eskişehir), s. 404-410. * YARAŞ 2003 A. Yaraş, "2002 Yılı Allianoi Kurtarma Kazısı", XXIV. Kazı Araştırma ve Arkeometri Sempozyum Sonuçları,(27-30 Mayıs 2001 Ankara), s. 373-384.Ankara. * YARAŞ 2004 A.Yaraş, "Allianoi 2003 Kazıları", XXV Uluslararası Kazı Sonuçları Toplantısı, (26-31 Mayıs 2002 Ankara), Baskıda.

Footnotes

External links

* * * {{Authority control Bergama Buildings and structures in İzmir Province Roman sites in Turkey Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey Ancient Roman baths Spa towns in Turkey History of İzmir Province