In 1706, Paul Lucas, traveling in southwest Turkey on a mission for the court of Louis XIV, came upon the mountaintop ruins of Sagalassos. The first Westerner to see the site, Lucas wrote that he seemed to be confronted with remains of several cities inhabited by fairies. Later, during the mid-nineteenth century, William Hamilton described it as the best preserved ancient city he had ever seen. Toward the end of that century, Sagalassos and its theater became famous among students of classical antiquity. Yet large scale excavations along the west coast at sites like Ephesos and Pergamon, attracted all the attention. Gradually Sagalassos was forgotten...until a British-Belgian team led by Stephen Mitchell started surveying the site in 1985.

Since 1990, Sagalassos has become a large-scale, interdisciplinary excavation of the Catholic University of Leuven, directed by Marc Waelkens. We are now exposing the monumental city center and have completed, or nearly completed, four major restoration projects there. We've also undertaken an intensive urban and geophysical survey, excavations in the domestic and industrial areas, and an intensive survey of its vast territory. Whereas the former document a thousand years of occupation, from Alexander the Great to the seventh century, the latter has established the changing settlement patterns, the vegetation history and farming practices, the landscape formation and climatic changes during the last 10,000 years.

Field Notes 2008
UPDATED JUNE 26, 2008
Follow as we continue to investigate Sagalassos and the surrounding countryside!

Major Find at Sagalassos
AUGUST 2, 2007
Colossal statue of the emperor Hadrian discovered

Bulletin Board
Questions about excavations at Sagalassos? Ask the archaeologists!

Find of the Week 2007
Each week we spotlighted one of our discoveries.

Daily Life
Happenings in and around camp during 2007

Maps Plan and location of the site in Turkey, plus visit Sagalassos with our interactive map with links to 360° views!

Map/Plan

Google Earth

Staff Profiles
Meet archaeologists and other scientists working at Sagalassos.

Field Notes 2003-2007
Read about excavations and survey during our previous seasons

Visit www.sagalassos.be for more on Sagalassos.

Want to dig? Check the AIA's Annual Fieldwork Opportunities Bulletin for ongoing excavations worldwide!