The distinct remains of Blaundus

A few years ago, Turkish TV ran a very interesting program, Zor Yollar (difficult roads) in which a group of adventurers crisscrossed Turkey’s backcountry in their 4x4 vehicles in search of little-known and/or near-hidden sites.

The image of one of these sites stayed with me because it was so out of common, and the name attached to it was Blaundus. The overall remains were poor, a sturdy arch that was part of the city wall, a few rows of columns pertaining to a temple of some kind, and the most striking ruins of “an unknown building”. Well, so much to satisfy my curiosity.

Just recently, the Turkish newspaper, Daily Sabah, published an article about Blaundus and the top picture was that of the building that had intrigued me from the onset.

It appears that Blaundus emerged as a Macedonian city and when Alexander the Great occupied Phrygia (to which Blaundus belonged) in 333 BC, he appointed Antigonus Monophthalmus as governor.

The city stands on a well-defendable high plateau. Although Blaundus had been located and analyzed by British and German archaeologists from the late 19^th to the early 21^st century, the first serious excavations started in the last decennium or so.

Blaundus was built according to the Hippodamian plan and it is thought that the monumental structure that caught my eye stood right on the Agora. So far, a temple dedicated to Ceres / Demeter, the fertility goddess, has been located. Other remains that have been documented are the stadium (140m x 37m) from the 1^st century AD, a few steps of the theater, the gymnasium, and one arch of the five-kilometer-long aqueduct (three arches were still standing in the 19^th century). On the slopes northeast of the city, a great number of tombs have been found with their frescoed wall painted in vivid shades of blue, green, and red.

Local authorities now state that the site of Blaundus is open to the public but I wonder whether the access roads have been signposted since the search of the Zor Yollar group. The impressive remains are situated north of the line Aydin – Isparta, meaning that it is not entirely out of reach to the more adventurous traveler.