If Ephesus is one of the Crown Jewels of the ancient world then it’s lesser known cousin, Aphrodisias, is definitely a hidden gem. Trite analogies aside, we were blown away by this Roman city about 2.5 hours east of Kusadasi, where we stayed. Kusadasi is the main cruise port and Ephesus is about 30 minutes away, which is why it gets all the visitors. Aphrodisias by contrast is far enough off the beaten path that the boat people generally don’t visit, though local guides noted that it is attracting more visitors. The site was buried for hundreds of years until an earthquake uncovered some of its remains. Excavation began in the 1960s led by a Turkish born archeologist who was a professor at NYU. He passed away and is buried at the site, but the work to restore the site goes on. Below is the entrance gate to the city, which was pieced back together by researchers. About 85% of it is original stone.

The following is a stadium that could seat up to 30,000 people for foot races, boxing exhibitions and other spectacles. The seats were ingeniously carved so that you could tuck your feat underneath and not stick your knees into the back of the person in front of you. There are also holes that poles were inserted into to hold coverings to shade the spectators.

Below are two views of the agora, or marketplace, one from ground level, the other from above. Try to imagine the central area as a pool that stretched the length of the structure. Columns that lined the marketplace supported a wooden roof and statues of gods and prominent citizens ran along both sides. The goal is to ultimately restore and refill the pool.

There is a smaller semicircular space for public meetings, below.

And the 5,000-seat Odeon, or theater.

The city also became noted as the home for a school for sculpture. Some of the work done by these artists is found in the on-site museum, where you can easily spend an hour browsing what has been saved from the site. Examples follow, kicking off with the remains of the statue of Aphrodite, for whom the city was named. It was in the temple in her honor.