Transforming Public Spaces: the Agora of Smyrna, a Case Study (original) (raw)
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M. Livadiotti, G. Rocco, The Agora of Kos: the Hellenistic and Roman phases
The city of Kos, founded in 366 B.C., was based on a urban plan organized on a grid of blocks oriented north-south. The new settlement was protected from the beginning by a fortification wall and also the harbour was defended by an independent wall circuit. After the building of the walls, on the north part of the town it was realized one of the largest agora of the Greek world, extended since the central plateia. It was a rectangular space surrounded by Doric porticoes and elevated on an artificial terrace, it was realized in different phases and substantially renewed in the II cent. B.C. The north part, being nearer to the harbour, had a commercial purpose, while the southern part was destined to the civic life. Recently a new sondage, finalized to understand the relationship between the agora and the harbour quarters, showed the existence of a paved ramp which introduced to the east portico of the IV century and Hellenistic agora, assuring, from the very beginning, the connection with the port. Outside the agora, another secondary market place could be organized for commercial purposes, being directly connected with the harbour. Like other contemporary towns, Kos could use more than one square for its complex functions, and maybe the maritime commercial ones were displayed in the harbour market more conveniently than in the civic agora itself. An earthquake in 142 A.D. provoked serious destructions in Kos and also the agora had repair necessities. A new access was then realized: the city wall was partially dismantled and the ancient connection between harbour and agora substituted by a monumental façade, raised on a high terrace, accessible by a broad stairway. This placed the agora again in direct communication with the harbour, no more for commercial purposes, but to increase the splendid image that the city showed to the visitors arriving from the sea. In fact, in the centre of the new front, a temple, probably connected to the imperial cult, had a monumental prostyle exastyle marble front of an elaborated Corinthian order. It would seem that in this phase the function of the northern sector of the agora has been altered: the original market was replaced by a monument of representative type, in keeping with the provincial imperial constructions due to the evergetism of the Emperors. The model for this new front probably alludes to the temples on a podium in the Imperial fora and seems to recall the façades of contemporary great complexes of Imperial age finalized to confer a concrete image to the Roman power in the eastern provincial towns which, like Kos, in this very period knew the phase of their maximum wealth.
Umgebaut Umbau-, Umnutzungs- und Umwertungsprozesse in der antiken Architektur Internationales Kolloquium in Berlin vom 21.–24. Februar 2018 veranstaltet vom Architekturreferat des DAI Herausgegeben von Katja Piesker und Ulrike Wulf-Rheidt, 2020
The paper focuses on the late Severan phase of the Sanctuary of Apollo in Phrygian Hierapolis. During the period 220-235 AD, the city’s main sacred site underwent massive reconstruction aimed at the complete renewal of its three temples. The systematic study of the monument enabled the graphic reconstruction of the prostyle hexastyle Corinthian temple and led to a deeper understanding of the late Severan building site. The four main characteristics of this huge reconstruction were: (i) the project represented a shift from western and Italic prototypes towards more up-to-date Microasiatic and even Syrian models, highlighting a dramatic transformation in aesthetic and cultural values; (ii) the systematic reuse of older blocks taken from various buildings in the Apollo Sanctuary was planned from the beginning and exerted a strong influence on the late Severan project, especially in terms of its dimensions, (iii) the use of spolia was characterised by a high degree of rationality and served to save material and reduce labour costs; (iv) magniloquent stylistic choices were achieved by means of unsound static and practical solutions, in terms of connections between blocks, use of clamps and dowels, block dimensions, and the finishing of surfaces.
This paper discusses the phenomenon of architectural restoration in Hellenistic and imperial times. In the absence of an explicit ancient theoretical treatment of the objectives and techniques of restoration, the topic is analysed using the tools of archaeology, in order to complement the existing historical and epigraphical research. In this framework, the paper focuses on the evidence from Asia Minor, starting with an examination of the well-preserved architectures of Hierapolis in Phrygia (Pamukkale, Turkey), a city lying in a highly seismic region. In the first part of this paper ancient restoration measures are discussed and a typology of repairs is proposed: the evidence gathered from the monuments of Hierapolis is compared to other examples, chosen from Asia Minor, in order to emphasise the value of the technical knowledge originating in the local workshops. The second part presents a contextual analysis of restoration measures affecting the Gymnasium of Hierapolis, which underwent numerous reconstructions between the 1st and the 7th centuries A.D. The systematic study of the south colonnade of the palaestra makes it possible to view the various restoration measures (materials, assembly techniques, etc.) from a diachronic perspective, showing the historically determined sensitivities which guided successive reconstructions of the building.
N. Kontogiannis and T. Uygar (eds.), Spaces and Communities in Byzantine Anatolia, 5th Sevgi Gönul Symposium, Istanbul, 2021
The city of Amorium located in the highlands of Phrygia in Asia Minor challenges the usual streamline narrative about the evolution of byzantine cities. Although it was already an important Early Byzantine town and bishopric (4th-6th c.), it flourished and became one of the most important cities of Asia Minor after the 7th c. and until its final abandonment in late 11th c. Amorium was benefitted from the new thematic organization of the Byzantine provinces after the 7th c. as it became the provincial “capital” city of the thema of Anatolikon, seat of a general and a critical base for the military and the civic administration in central and western Asia Minor. Amorium has been the subject of systematic excavation for more than two decades, and numerous civic and religious buildings have been unearthed in this process offering a wealth of information on the Early Byzantine, the Byzantine Early Medieval, and the Middle Byzantine phases of the city. Since 2013 a new side-project has been running focused on analyzing the historical landscape of Amorium with the use of excavation data, survey information, satellite and aerial imagery in a consolidated Geographical Information System environment. Focus of this newer project has been the western part of the lower city of Amorium, mostly unexplored until now. Aim of the proposed paper will be to combine elements from older excavation with the new informative background in order to establish the characteristics of the city (city grid, land use, monumentality) and ascertain their change from the Late Roman times to the Early Middle Ages.
The Agora and Forum at Butrint: A New Topography of the Ancient Urban Center
L’Illyrie méridionale et l’Épire dans l’antiquité VI, 2018
This paper examines the forum as a unified complex, in relation to the design, purpose, and siting of its major buildings during the Roman Imperial period, from the 1st century B.C. to 3rd century A.D. It also explores themes of Roman colonization, as they relate to the topography and building sequences of the forum and to the transformation of the Epeirote polis to the Roman colonia.