Ancient Amphitheater Investigated in Anatolia

NAZILLI, TURKEY—Hurriyet Daily News reports that Sedat Akkurnaz of Aydin Adnan Menderes University and his colleagues have completed preliminary investigations of a 2,700-year-old amphitheater on private land in western Turkey’s ancient town of Mastaura. Akkurnaz and his team set out to find the amphitheater after reading travel accounts written by eighteenth-century European visitors to the region. The study suggests the Colosseum-like structure, which is buried in an area of olive and fig groves, measures about 330 feet in diameter, with walls standing about 50 feet tall. “There are seven [or] eight known examples [of amphitheaters] in Anatolia,” Akkurnaz said. “While most of the examples there were destroyed or the materials moved elsewhere, this amphitheater in Mastaura is an important ancient amphitheater with seats under olive trees and an orchestra.” The team members are now working with Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism to protect the site and make plans to continue the investigation. To read about the Greco-Roman city of Zeugma in southern Turkey, go to "Zeugma After the Flood."