Aphrodisias travel tips and stories. Vacations ideas, cruises spa and resorts

Situated amidst rolling hills, 30 kilometers from the town of Denizli in southeastern Turkey, the splendid ruins of Aphrodisias contain what was once the preeminent temple of the goddess Aphrodite (the Greek goddess of Love) in Asia Minor. Yet long before the Greek sanctuary of Aphrodite was constructed in the 1st century BC, the site was a holy place and pilgrimage destination of immense importance to other cultures.

According to the Suda, before being known as Aphrodisias, the city had three previous names: Lelegon Polis (city of the Leleges), Megale Polis, and Ninoe. The city was later renamed Stauropolis (city of the cross) in the Christian era. The similarities of the goddess Aphrodite to Artemis of Ephesus and other Anatolian mother goddesses are evident in cult statues found at the ruins. In Hellenistic times, she took the form of an ancient nature goddess who was sovereign on the earth, in heaven, and in the oceans and the underworld.
Continue reading Discover Aphrodisias, the preeminent temple of the goddess Aphrodite in Asia Minor