K. David Smith

From Antalya, I drove approximately 2500km through the Anatolian hinterlands, by many circuitous routes, back roads, and not-so-smart mountain passes normally traveled only by shepherds and foresters, to Cappadocia. Along the way, I traveled the Via Sebaste and the ancient Royal Road first built by the Persians and later improved by the Romans, as best I could approximate it. I visited as many Byzantine-era sites as I could find. Some of the more interesting shots can be found here.

The modern city of Antalya, with a population of 1.1 million (officially; unofficially, probably closer to 2 or more) on the Turkish Riviera, sprawls around a beautifully preserved Old City that goes back at least to the Hellenistic Era. In Roman times, as the harbor of Perge, the former chief port of Phrygia, silted up, Attaleia (as it was then known) gained prominence. Its harbor is naturally protected on three sides by steep cliffs, and on the south by a mole (breakwater) that goes back 2000 years. The city was built on the bluff above the harbor, and boasts a triumphal entry gate built to honor the Emperor Hadrian, still spectacular after all these centuries, as well as a structure that began life as a temple, then became a church, then a mosque, then a church again, then a mosque, before finally being abandoned in Ottoman times. Today Antalya is a charming, cosmopolitan city, albeit with some of the worst traffic I've ever encountered. At rush hour, it can take an hour to travel 3km, especially near the Old City. August is also probably not the best time to visit, unless you plan on spending your time at the beach, since temperatures can reach well over 40 degrees C with high humidity. Still, as a base for exploring the vast wealth of Classical ruins in the surrounding area, Antalya serves wonderfully well.

Northeast of Antalya and the ancient city of Perge, on a steep rocky bluff that is nearly inaccessible on all sides, sits the ancient city of Sillyon (or Sillaeon). The site is strategically remarkable, and was likely settled for this reason in pre-Hellenistic times. The Greeks later expanded the city, and in Roman and Byzantine times it was a strong fortress-city, with at least two layers of walls (upper and lower) and quite possibly a third that protected the access road. The Romans built a fantastically engineered road up the side of the cliff, with arched supports for a level, wide path that would likely have been paved for wheeled traffic to reach the top. There are remains of Hellenistic buildings, a Roman bastion, at least four deep cisterns on the acropolis, a Byzantine church and/or bishop's residence, and many other buildings - all largely undisturbed, since the site is so difficult to reach. It's a steep climb to get to the top, and I wouldn't recommend attempting it in 44-degree C heat, as I did. But well worth it.

The Roman- and early Byzantine-era ruins at Sagalassos, one of the great cities of Asia Minor from the reign of Augustos until a series of earthquakes and the plague decimated the city in the 6th century. Built on the foundations of an earlier Pisidian city, which was already a great power in the region before the Romans conquered it, Sagalassos was conquered by Alexander the Great and later became a rich and powerful center of Roman civilization in the region. After its decline, it is likely that life continued in Sagalassos on a smaller scale into the period of my novel (8th century) and possibly beyond, though on a more limited and localized scale. A team of archaeologists led by Professor Marc Waelkens of Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium has been working since 1990 to explore, catalogue, and restore the site. The result is an incredible gem of archaeology, a partially rebuilt Roman city at the height of its wealth and influence, located in a jaw-dropping location high in the Pisidian mountains.

In the Footsteps of the Byzantines - photos from my research trip to Turkey in August, 2014