Kayseri and its hidden Hippodrome

Kayseri was called Caesarea. To be named after Caesar, in this case Emperor Tiberius, who reigned from 14 AD to 37 AD, underscores its importance. 

The city was founded around 2000 BC as a trading post for the Hittites and the Assyrians. In Hellenistic times, it was known as Mazaka, and changed name again into Eusebia under Cappadocian rule. 

[Picture from Arkeonews]

The Hippodrome, however, is attributed to the Romans and was probably built in the 1^st century BC or early 1^st century AD. It has not been excavated yet, as it lies underneath the local market, which in turn sits on an ancient landfill that was heavily used from 1950 until 1980. Ten thousand tons of debris were deposited, creating a layer nearly 20 meters thick. It remained hidden until its contours appeared in a 19^th-century drawing, where it was labeled a Circus. 

The Roman Hippodrome is one of the three known examples found in Anatolia, i.e., in Ephesos and Pergamon. This structure is about 450 meters long, and its outlines with the curved ends remain intact. 

In late antiquity, Caesarea was an important city that may have counted 50,000 inhabitants. It sat on the main trade routes connecting to the Persian Royal Road and linking Sinope to the Euphrates.

There are no plans yet to start the excavation of the Hippodrome, partly because of the local open-air market that is still held there, partly because of the tons of debris that need to be removed. In the meantime, the site is registered as a protected area and will be monitored with geophysical equipment to gather as much information as possible.