Karacasu is a town and a district of

Aydın Province Aydın Province ( tr, ) is a province of southwestern Turkey, located in the Aegean Region. The provincial capital is the city of Aydın which has a population of almost 200,000 (2012). Other towns in the province include the summer seaside re ...

in the Aegean region of

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 ...

, from the city 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 ...

. Formerly known as "Yenişehir", Karacasu is reached by turning off the

Denizli Denizli is an industrial city in the southwestern part of Turkey and the eastern end of the alluvial valley formed by the river Büyük Menderes, where the plain reaches an elevation of about . Denizli is located in the country's Aegean Region. ...

road south-east at Kuyucak and following the Dandalaz River upstream into the hills. The road is windy and the surrounding countryside is planted with olives, citrus fruits and as you get higher up, pines. The ruins of the ancient city of

Aphrodisias Aphrodisias (; grc, Ἀφροδισιάς, Aphrodisiás) was a small Ancient Greece, ancient Greek Hellenistic_period, Hellenistic city in the historic Caria cultural region of western Anatolia, Turkey. It is located near the modern village of ...

are located within the boundaries of Karacasu, near the small town of

Geyre Geyre is a small town in the District of Karacasu, Aydın Province, Turkey. Also known as ''Yeni koy'' (the "new village"), it was relocated around 1960, from over the ancient Greek city of Aphrodisias archeological site to a new location nearby. ...

. The area was first settled in the Bronze Age and reached its peak in the Roman and Byzantine eras as a centre of marble working. The ruins include a stadium, Temple of Aphrodite, theatre, agora and a bath with the heating system still visible. The city also contains the grave of archaeologist

Kenan Erim Kenan Tevfik Erim (13 February 1929 in İstanbul – 3 November 1990 in Ankara) was a Turkish archaeologist who excavated from 1961 until his death at the site of Aphrodisias in Turkey. Life His father, Tevfik Erim, was a diplomat who was a member ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

who did so much to excavate the site. The district is also notable for its rich emery mines. Karacasu itself is a small town of nearly 6,000 people, and is thought to be the site of the lost city of Gordiouteichos.

References

Populated places in Aydın Province Karacasu District Districts of Aydın Province {{Aydın-geo-stub