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Ariassos/Ancient Cities
Ariassos was founded in a narrow rocky valley in the Taurus
mountains to the north-west of Antalya. The earliest known
coinage of Ariassos dates to the first century B.C. ; these
coins have the head of Zeus on the obverse and on the reverse, a
humped bull. Strabo mentions the city, calling it Aarrossas; it
is known in other sources as Areassos and Ariassos.
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Apart from a few ruined Hellenistic period walls, all the remains date
to the Roman and Byzantine eras. The best preserved structure is the
city gate, which takes the shape of a tri-partite triumphal arch, with
the central arch higher and wider than the side arches. The arches
spring off stone socles.
The site is entered via a colonnaded street running east-west from this gate. In Byzantine times, buildings of unknown function were erected on this street, entirely destroying its character. The nature of other principal buildings cannot be determined because they consist now of nothing more than heaps of stone.
The south and west ends of the valley served as necropoli. Funerary structures found here possess Pisidian characteristics, and generally consist of vaulted structures placed on a high podium. Here lie opened crumbling sarcophagi decorated with sword and shield motifs. The lids of the sarcophagi are shaped like rounde roofs.