Aspendos kentinin hakimi, dünyalar güzel kızının evlilik çağına geldiğini düşünür. Kente en faydalı işi yapan kişiyle kızını evlendirecektir.

İki mimar diğerlerinden öne çıkar yaptıkları eserleriyle.

Biri Aspendos’un hala incelenen su kemerlerini inşa eder.

Diğeri günümüzde de kullanılan tiyatroyu.

Kral, kilometrelerce uzaktan su getiren aquadükleri inşa eden mimarın kızını hak ettiğini düşünür.

Kentin en önemli ihtiyacını gidermiştir. Kızı bu mimarla evlenmelidir.

Sanatçı ruhlu güzel kız babasına yalvarır; babacığım ne olur tiyatroyu bir kere daha görelim, kararını öyle ver.

Baba kız tiyatroya giderler. En üste çıkıp tonozlu galerinin olduğu yerde hem gezinip hem tartışırlar.

Birbirlerini ikna etmeye çalışmaktadırlar.

Bu sırada tiyatronun mimarı orkestraya gelmiş, kral ve kızından habersiz kendi kendine konuşmaktadır. Kralın kızı benim olmalı, kralın kızı benim olmalı.

Mimarın geldiğinden habersiz, tartışmakta olan baba kız da bu sesi duyarlar.

Başlarını çevirdiklerinde aşağıda orkestrada bir adam elleri arkada, başı öne eğik dolaşırken, ımırıldanmaktadır.

Kralın kızı benim olmalı, kralın kızı benim olmalı.

Kral, tiyatroyu yapan mimarın neyi başardığını artık anlamıştı. Bu akustiği verebilen mimar her şeyi başarabilirdi. Kızı haklıydı.

Düğünleri tiyatroda yapıldı

“İtalya, Fransa, Dalmaçya ve Afrika’da amfitiyatrolar, Mısır ve Yunanistan’da tapınaklar, Girit’te saraylar görmüş olabilirsiniz. Antik çağdan günümüze gelen kalıntılara belki doydunuz veya belki onlardan hiç hoşlanmadınız. Ama Aspendos’taki tiyatroyu henüz görmediniz”

D. G. Hogarth – 1909

“Ben kendi adıma, tiyatronun içerisine ilk girdiğim an benliğimi saran hayranlık duygusunu asla unutmadım: Bu daha önce gördüğüm hiç bir şeye benzemiyor.”
George E. BEEN

Aspendos tiyatrosu tüm dünyadaki en iyi korunmuş Roma tiyatrosu, hatta en iyi korunmuş antik tiyatrodur.

İki tepe üzerine kurulu Aspendos’un tiyatrosu, küçük tepenin doğu yamacına yaslanmıştır.

MS. 2. yy. da Marcus Aurelius (161-180) döneminde inşa edilmiştir.

*Kuzey ve güney parodos kapılarının üzerindeki Latince ve Yunanca yazıtlar, tiyatro ve skenesinin bütün masraflarını A. Curtius Crispinus’un vasiyeti uyarınca, A. Cirtius Crispinus Arruntianus ile A..Cirtius Auspicatus Tirinnianus karşıladıklarını yazar. Tiyatro Tanrılara ve devrin İmparatorlarına adanmıştır.

Skene binasının üst sütün sırasının kaidesindeki  daha kısa yazıtta, sadece yaptıran ikisinin adları geçer.

Sahne binasının güney duvarındaki konsol üzerindeki yazıt, bu yapının mimarının Theodoros’un oğlu Zenon olduğunu bize bildirir.

Tiyatro Roma tipinin özelliklerini yansıtır.. Her ne kadar caveanın bir bölümü yamaca yaslanmış olsa da üst bölümü serbest kemerler üstünde yükselmesi, paradosların üstü örtülü, analemma duvarlarının caveaya parelel olması, caveanın yarım daire planlı olması Roma tiyatrosu özellileridir.

Burada daha erken bir tiyatro olsa bile tümüyle mevcut yapının altında kalmıştır.

Sahne binası; ahşap sahnenin ve onun gerisindeki duvarı süsleyen heykeller ile sütunların dışında neredeyse eksiksiz bir şekilde günümüze ulaşmıştır.

İki uçtaki merdivenler ve caveayı taçlandıran 58 sütun ve kemerden oluşan galeri günümüzde onarım görmüştür.

Yapıda kullanılan ana malzeme kalitesiz bir tür konglomera olmakla birlikte, oturma sıraları, döşemeler ve kaplamalarda mermer kullanılmıştır.

Seyirciler tiyatroya iki yandaki kapılardan ve yamaçtaki iki küçük kapıdan (şimdi kapatılmış) giriyorlardı.

Sahne binası uzun ve dardır. Orijinal yüksekliğini korumuştur. Dışarısında beş kapı, bunların üzerinde de dört sıra pencere yer almaktadır. En üst pencere dizisinin üstünde ve altında taşkın bloklar sıralanır. Bloklara açılmış deliklere birer direk dikiliyor ve bunların yardımıyla gerilen büyük bir tente seyircileri güneş ve yağmurdan koruyordu.

Çok katlı olan sahne yapısının yatay elamanları günümüze ulaşmamıştır.

Sahne yapısının esas sahneye fon oluşturan duvarı çok zengin bezemelere sahipti. Bunlardan doğrudan duvara gömülü olanları yerinde duruyor.

Sahne yapısı, biri diğerinin üstünde yükselen iki sıra sütunla süslenmişti. Sütunların aralarında nişler yer alır. Bu nişlerin alınlıkları daha küçük sütunlar tarafında taşınıyordu. Nişlerin içinde heykeller duruyordu.

İkinci sütun dizisinin üzerindeki büyük alınlığın merkezini bitkisel sarmallarla çevrelenmiş Dionysos figürü kaplıyordu.

Sahne düzleminde beş kapı ( Sanatçılar bu kapıları kullanarak sahneye çıkıyorlardı), onlarında altında daha küçük kapılar sıralanıyordu. (Gladyatör oyunları için vahşi hayvanlar bu kapılardan salınıyorlardı)

7.01m. ileriye taşan sahnenin, yüksekliği 1.6m dir.

Sahnenin yan duvarlarının üst kesiminde, dış kenardan arka duvara doğru eğimle uzanan oyuklar göze çarpar. Bu oyuklar, sesi yansıtmaya yönelik bir ahşap çatının sahneyi örttüğü kanısını doğurur.

Orkhestra, Roma tipine uygun olarak yarım daire biçimindedir. Tabanı taş döşeliydi. Taş taban döşemesinin bir bölümü halen yerindedir.

Paradosların üzerinde loca işlevi gören prohedria bulunur.

Tek diazomalı cavea nın üstünde daha sonra eklenmiş kemerli galeri bulunur.

Diazomanın aşağısında 21, yukarısında 20 oturma sırası yer alır.

Cavea 15-20 bin kişilik oturma yerine sahipti. Bazı oturma yerlerinde, sahibini işaret eden isimler kazılıdır. İsimli oturma yerlerinden birinin en üst sırada olması ilginçtir.

Caveanın alt oturma sıraları 10 merdivenle 9 cuneaya, üst oturma sıraları 21 merdivenle 20 cuneaya bölünmüştür.

Tiyatronun sahne binası Selçuklular döneminde ikametgâh olarak kullanılmış, bazı takviye ve tamir görmüş dışı sıvanmıştır. Cephesindeki koyu kırmızı zikzak desenli sıva bu dönemden kalmadır.  Alaeddin Keykubat, sahnenin büyük merdiven kulesinin içini figürlü çinilerle kaplayıp köşk haline getirmiştir. Bunların izleri halen görülmektedir.  Çiniler Antalya Arkeoloji Müzesinde sergilenmektedir.

Atatürk 1930 yılında ziyaret edip “onarılıp yeniden kullanılması” direktifini vermiştir.

Günümüzde, her yıl düzenli olarak yapılan uluslar arası “Aspendos Opera ve Bale Festivali”  dünya milletlerini tiyatroya toplamaya devam ediyor.

Derleyen arkeoloji dünyası – ali güneygül

Daha fazla bilgi

Eskiçağda Güney Kıyıları, George E. BEEN

Pamphylia, Lanckronski

Antalya, Basın – Yayın ve Turizm Umum Müdürlüğü Neşriyatı

Antalya, Naci Keskin

Antique Cities Guide, Kayhan Dörtlük

Anadolu Tarihi Coğrafyası, Veli Sevin

Karamanya, Tuğamiral Sir Francis Beaufort

Küçük Asya, Charles Texier

Antalya, Hüseyin Çimrin

Her mevsim bol suyu olan ‘Manavgat Çayı, ın 4 km kuzeyinde çok güzel görüntü veren Manavgat Şelalesi’ni oluşturuyor. Şelale çevresi, kanallar ve setlerle düzenlenerek güzel bir mesire yeri haline getirilmiş. Kökleri ve dalları suya uzanan çınar ağaçlarının gölgesindeki mesire yerinde, sert katmanlardan hızla düşen yeşil suyu, suyun içinde direnen ağaçları, yer yer oluşan küçük anaforları izleyebileceğiniz, suyun sesini dinleyebileceğiniz lokantalar, seyir terasları, çay bahçeleri var. Yazın sıcak günlerinde suyun serinliği ve şelalenin sesi eşliğinde bir öğle yemeği yiyebilirsiniz.

Büyük Manavgat Şelalesi’ne gelmeden, Manavgat’tan 2 km sonra, sağa Küçük Manavgat Şelalesi yolu ayrılıyor. Yoldan 1 km içeride, çayın Küçük Manavgat Şelalesi bölümü karşınıza çıkacak. Büyük Manavgat Şelalesi’ne göre daha küçük bir yükseltiden dökülen küçük şelale çevresi de bir mesire yeri haline getirilmiş. Aynı doğal görünümün bulunduğu, biraz daha sakin olan küçük şelalede Küçük Şelale Restaurant, lokanta ve çay bahçesi olarak hizmet veriyor.

HISTORY
The Great Wall started as earth works thrown up for protection by different States. The individual sections weren’t connected until the Qin dynasty (221-206 B.C.). Qin Shihuangdi, First Emperor of Qin began conscripting peasants, enemies, and anyone else who wasn’t tied to the land to go to work on the wall. He garrisoned armies at the Wall to stand guard over the workers as well as to defend the northern boundaries. The tradition lasted for centuries. Each dynasty added to the height, breadth, length, and elaborated the design mostly through forced labor.

It was during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) that the Wall took on its present form. The brick and granite work was enlarged and sophisticated designs were added. The watch towers were redesigned and modern canon were mounted in strategic areas. The Portuguese had found a ready market for guns and canon in China, one of the few items of trade that China didn’t already have in abundance. The Ming Emperors, having overthrown the Hun dominance and expelled their Mongol rulers of the North devoted large portions of available material and manpower to making sure that they didn’t return.

Throughout the centuries, armies were garrisoned along the length of the Wall to provide early warning of invasion and a first line of defense. Great piles of straw and dung used to build signal fires have been found during excavations. There must have been small garrison towns spotted along the length. There weren’t many farms or trade towns to provide ease, relaxation and food. The supply trails were over mountains along narrow paths. To bring supplies to the top, ropes were slung over posts set in the Chinese side of the wall and baskets were hauled up hand over hand. Supplies must have always been short and chancy, particularly in the winter.

The Wall served well. Only when a dynasty had weakened from within were invaders from the north able to advance and conquer. Both the Mongols (Yuan Dynasty, 1271-1368) and the Manchurians (Qing Dynasty,1644-1911) were able take power, not because of weakness in the Wall but because of weakness in the government and the poverty of the people. They took advantage of rebellion from within and stepped into the void of power without extended wars.

Over the past few centuries, the Great Wall has served as a source of building materials for local farms and villages. Aerial photos show that in sections, only the top battlements show — the center of the wall has filled with sand and silt. The same brutal isolated conditions which made the Great Wall a triumph of engineering and determined planning make restoration problematic and slow.

Location:
Alexandria, Egypt.

History:
Alexandria, Egypt, represented a melding of cultures in the late first century A.D. Traditions of Greece and Rome overlay the city, the cult of Christianity was gaining ground, and memories of ancient Egypt’s great kingdoms still lingered. It was a place where people seemed to have a talent for combining rather than destroying cultures.

Little of that “Paris of Antiquity” has survived above the ground. Below it, however, are haunting reminders of a culture that existed 1,900 years ago: the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa, “Mound of Shards.” Carved out of solid rock, three levels burrow into the ground near the sites of the ancient stadium, and the long- vanished temple to Serapis, a Greek and Egyptian god. Many such catacombs once filigreed Alexandria’s underground, but earthquakes and construction projects destroyed or obscured them. Only in 1900 was Kom el Shoqafa rediscovered after centuries – by a donkey that fell through a hole in the ground and into its access well. The animal, it soon became clear, had made an extraordinary archeological find.

Description:
An ancient circular staircase leads down into the catacombs. In the late second century, when Kom el Shaqafa was an active burial site, bodies were lowered by rope down the well formed by the spiraling stairs. The staircase ends at a landing vestibule, where two benches are carved into wall niches overarched by the cockleshell motif often found in classical designs.

A rotunda pierced by a six-pillared central shaft opens off the vestibule. To the left lies the triclinium, the funeral banquet hall where friends and family gathered on stone couches covered with cushions. Here they reclined while ceremonially feasting in memory of the deceased. Scholars believe that the catacombs at first may have served one family, but they were expanded into a mass burial site, probably administered by a corporation with dues-paying members. This theory could explain why so many chambers were hewn from the rock.

A staircase from the rotunda descends to the second level, an area eerily alive with sculpture. In the vestibule, two pillars are topped by the papyrus, lotus, and acanthus leaves of ancient Egypt, their frieze adorned by two falcons flanking a winged sun. Carved into wall niches are figures of a man, and a woman, perhaps the tomb’s original occupants. The man’s body assumes the stiff hieratic pose found in ancient Egyptian sculpture, but his head is in the lifelike manner of the classic Hellenes; the woman’s stance is also rigid, but she sports a Roman hairstyle.

Three gigantic sarcophagi with lids that do not lift rest along the sides of the chamber. Scholars assume that bodies would have been inserted into them from behind, using a passageway that runs around the outside of the funeral chamber. Further circling this central tomb chamber is a hallway with 91 wall niches, each one providing burial space for three mummies.

Returning to the first level, visitors can reach a separate set of tombs through a breach in the rotunda wall, unintended by the original builders. It leads to what has been called the Hall of Caracalla, where bones of horses and humans were found. The hall’s name comes from an episode in A.D. 215, when Emperor Caracalla ordered Alexandrian youths to review, then massacred them.

All over the empire, Romans enjoyed going to the theater to see concerts and plays, and to the stadium to watch chariot races and the amphitheater to watch bloody sports. Going to the amphitheater (Colosseum) was probably the most popular. Gladiatorial combats, fights with beasts and other fights were held in the Colosseum. The Colosseum was big enough to hold the whole population of a town–as many as 50,000 people would sometimes spend the whole day there watching sports. The games were really bloody and for four centuries, men died as an entertainment for the crowd. Gladiators went to training schools; most of them were slaves and criminals. At first there were fights to the death between wild animals: bear against buffalo, buffalo against elephant, and elephant against rhinoceros. Sometimes there would even be fights between men and tame beasts. These fights were called venationes.

The Amphitheater is built of travertine outside, and of tufa and brick in the interior. It had Greek columns decorating the outside, but these did not support the architecture. The Colosseum had a circumference of 527m and it was 50m high. There were 80 entrances, all numbered except for the four main entrances which were wider than the others and were reserved for the Emperor. It was designed so that the crowd could get out in five minutes. The interior was divided into three parts: the arena, the podium, and the cavea. Now more than two-thirds of the original building has been removed and the rows of the seats in the cavea are missing. It is very similar to other amphitheaters except this one is much bigger.

While we can’t say with any degree of certainty what it was for, we can say that it wasn’t constructed for any casual purpose. Only something very important to the ancients would have been worth the effort and investment that it took to construct Stonehenge.

The stones we see today represent Stonehenge in ruin. Many of the original stones have fallen or been removed by previous generations for home construction or road repair. There has been serious damage to some of the smaller bluestones resulting from close visitor contact (prohibited since 1978) and the prehistoric carvings on the larger sarsen stones show signs of significant wear.

Construction of the Henge In its day, the construction of Stonehenge was an impressive engineering feat, requiring commitment, time and vast amounts of manual labor. In its first phase, Stonehenge was a large earthwork; a bank and ditch arrangement called a henge, constructed approximately 5,000 years ago. It is believed that the ditch was dug with tools made from the antlers of red deer and, possibly, wood. The underlying chalk was loosened with picks and shoveled with the shoulderblades of cattle. It was then loaded into baskets and carried away. Modern experiments have shown that these tools were more than equal to the great task of earth digging and moving.

The Bluestones About 2,000 BC, the first stone circle (which is now the inner circle), comprised of small bluestones, was set up, but abandoned before completion. The stones used in that first circle are believed to be from the Prescelly Mountains, located roughly 240 miles away, at the southwestern tip of Wales. The bluestones weigh up to 4 tons each and about 80 stones were used, in all. Given the distance they had to travel, this presented quite a transportation problem.

Modern theories speculate that the stones were dragged by roller and sledge from the inland mountains to the headwaters of Milford Haven. There they were loaded onto rafts, barges or boats and sailed along the south coast of Wales, then up the Rivers Avon and Frome to a point near present-day Frome in Somerset. From this point, so the theory goes, the stones were hauled overland, again, to a place near Warminster in Wiltshire, approximately 6 miles away. From there, it’s back into the pool for a slow float down the River Wylye to Salisbury, then up the Salisbury Avon to West Amesbury, leaving only a short 2 mile drag from West Amesbury to the Stonehenge site.

Construction of the Outer Ring The giant sarsen stones (which form the outer circle), weigh as much as 50 tons each. To transport them from the Marlborough Downs, roughly 20 miles to the north, is a problem of even greater magnitude than that of moving the bluestones. Most of the way, the going is relatively easy, but at the steepest part of the route, at Redhorn Hill, modern work studies estimate that at least 600 men would have been needed just to get each stone past this obstacle.

Once on site, a sarsen stone was prepared to accommodate stone lintels along its top surface. It was then dragged until the end was over the opening of the hole. Great levers were inserted under the stone and it was raised until gravity made it slide into the hole. At this point, the stone stood on about a 30° angle from the ground. Ropes were attached to the top and teams of men pulled from the other side to raise it into the full upright position. It was secured by filling the hole at its base with small, round packing stones. At this point, the lintels were lowered into place and secured vertically by mortice and tenon joints and horizontally by tongue and groove joints. Stonehenge was probably finally completed around 1500 BC.

Who Built Stonehenge? The question of who built Stonehenge is largely unanswered, even today. The monument’s construction has been attributed to many ancient peoples throughout the years, but the most captivating and enduring attribution has been to the Druids. This erroneous connection was first made around 3 centuries ago by the antiquary, John Aubrey. Julius Caesar and other Roman writers told of a Celtic priesthood who flourished around the time of their first conquest (55 BC). By this time, though, the stones had been standing for 2,000 years, and were, perhaps, already in a ruined condition. Besides, the Druids worshipped in forest temples and had no need for stone structures.

The best guess seems to be that the Stonehenge site was begun by the people of the late Neolithic period (around 3000 BC) and carried forward by people from a new economy which was arising at this time. These “new” people, called Beaker Folk because of their use of pottery drinking vessels, began to use metal implements and to live in a more communal fashion than their ancestors. Some think that they may have been immigrants from the continent, but that contention is not supported by archaeological evidence. It is likely that they were indigenous people doing the same old things in new ways.

As Legend Has It The legend of King Arthur provides another story of the construction of Stonehenge. It is told by the twelfth century writer, Geoffrey of Monmouth, in his History of the Kings of Britain that Merlin brought the stones to the Salisbury Plain from Ireland. Sometime in the fifth century, there had been a massacre of 300 British noblemen by the treacherous Saxon leader, Hengest. Geoffrey tells us that the high king, Aurelius Ambrosius, wanted to create a fitting memorial to the slain men. Merlin suggested an expedition to Ireland for the purpose of transplanting the Giant’s Ring stone circle to Britain. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, the stones of the Giant’s Ring were originally brought from Africa to Ireland by giants (who else but giants could handle the job?). The stones were located on “Mount Killaraus” and were used as a site for performing rituals and for healing. Led by King Uther and Merlin, the expedition arrived at the spot in Ireland. The Britons, none of whom were giants, apparently, were unsuccessful in their attempts to move the great stones. At this point, Merlin realized that only his magic arts would turn the trick. So, they were dismantled and shipped back to Britain where they were set up (see illus. at right) as they had been before, in a great circle, around the mass grave of the murdered noblemen. The story goes on to tell that Aurelius, Uther and Arthur’s successor, Constantine were also buried there in their time*.

Present Day Stonehenge Situated in a vast plain, surrounded by hundreds of round barrows, or burial mounds, the Stonehenge site is truly impressive, and all the more so, the closer you approach. It is a place where much human effort was expended for a purpose we can only guess at. Some people see it as a place steeped in magic and mystery, some as a place where their imaginations of the past can be fired and others hold it to be a sacred place. But whatever viewpoint is brought to it and whatever its original purpose was, it should be treated as the ancients treated it, as a place of honor .

The modern age has not been altogether kind to Stonehenge, despite the lip service it pays to the preservation of heritage sites. There is a major highway running no more than 100 yards away from the stones, and a commercial circus has sprung up around it, complete with parking lots, gift shops and ice cream stands. The organization, English Heritage, is committed to righting these wrongs, and in the coming years, we may get to see Stonehenge in the setting for which it was originally created. Despite all its dilapidation and the encroachment of the modern world, Stonehenge, today, is an awe-inspiring sight, and no travel itinerary around Britain should omit it.

Müzenin tarih, arkeoloji, nümizmatik ve güzel sanatlara ilişkin kitaplardan oluşan zengin kütüphanesi ile kimya laboratuvarı, heykel onarım atölyesi ve fotoğrafhanesi vardır.
Kuruluş Yılı : 1891
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