A double highway in antiquity

We like to believe that the double highway is an invention from the 20^th century. Well that is not so since remains of what is likely to be the first double highway ever have been discovered in Anavarza, near the village of Dilekkaya in the province of Adana, Turkey.

[Picture from the Hurriyet Daily News]

The origins of the city go back to the days of Assyrians and was successively occupied by the Sassanids, the Byzantines (Emperor Justinian I rebuilt the city after a destructive earthquake in 525 AD and renamed it Justinopolis), the Armenians, and the Ottomans. It still holds traces from Hellenistic and Roman times who named it Caesarea. The fact that Anavarza was situated on the main road east after leaving the Cilician Gates made it one of the most important cities of Cilicia in the third and fifth centuries, after supplanting nearby Tarsus in the first and second centuries AD.

Unfortunately, Anavarza’s well-preserved remains have been damaged by powerful earthquakes as recent as 1945, during which the three aqueducts that stood there for nearly two thousand years collapsed. Among the ruins are colonnades along two streets, a gymnasium, a triumphal arch, a theater, a stadium, and a fort.

The most striking element, however, is this double-columned highway, approximately 35 meters wide and 2.7 kilometers long. It has been established that columns were of the Corinthian order and were erected at 2.15 meters intervals. At present, work is underway to restore a 250-meter section of this highway in the hope to make it accessible for tourists in a few years’ time.

So far, 1,360 columns have been unearthed and plans are to restore them. The entrance gate also will be put back together as no less than 500 pieces have been found lying around the monument. Two more streets will be excavated and archaeologists hope to locate the sewage system as well as the stores on either side of the streets.

Once again, Anavarza may become one of the most magnificent cities from the ancient world after being cleared and restored. After all, this city is larger than Ephesos, for instance! 

It is not unthinkable that Alexander passed through this city, this very highway even, on his way from Tarsus to Issus. In any case, it is a place worth to be added to our next travel plans.