The ancient city of Laodicea

The ancient city of Laodicea is located 6 km north of Denizli, in the area where the Eskihisar, Goncalı and Bozburun districts are located. The city is constituted on a high platform that the tripartite is surrounded by rivers, in the middle of the fertile plain of Lycos. The Hellenistic city of Laodicea was founded in the 3rd century BC. J.C by King Seleucid Antiochus II honored by his wife Laodice and was linked to Rome in 130 BC. J.C. The ancient city of Laodicea is destroyed following multiple earthquakes and rebuilt several times. After the earthquake which took place during the time of Emperor Focas the city was completely evacuated and the inhabitants settled on the northern slopes of Salbakos (Babadağ) then in Kaleiçi and Hisarköy in Denizli. The excavations carried out at one of the centers of Christianity, at the metropolitan level of the Byzantine Empire, highlight the existence of a constant habitation from the Chalcolithic period until the 7th century AD The excavations are carried out by the Archeology Department of the University of Pamukkale with the support of the Municipality of Denizli.

The Pilgrimage Church The Laodicean Pilgrimage Church is one of the seven churches sacred places mentioned in the Bible on the pilgrimage route of Christianity. It was founded in the time of Constantine (306-307 AD) after that Christianity was declared free. Leaving Syria Avenue, on the junction on the way to the North Church you will find the Pilgrimage Church. In the church there are a total of 11 apses: one is to the east, the five are to the south and the five are in the north. The holiest place in the church is naos. In naos, there is 10 masonry feet of travertine blocks, both of which support the roof, one prothesis, a diakonikon, an ambon, a bema and has a synthrone inside the main apse. The church is reached from two doors: one locates to the south and the other is to the north. The soils of the Nave in the North and in the South in Naos are covered with mosaics with a plant figure in the central nave the floor is covered in marble. In the baptistery which is one of the most important places of this construction, there is a baptismal swimming pool in the shape of a cross: one of the most comprehensive examples in Christianity history.