Aydın Alinda Archeological Site

“ICON OF MAGNIFICENCE AND POWER, ALINDA, THE CITY OF THE ISLAND”

The city is located on two rocky hills with different elevations in the west of the Karpuzlu plain and is difficult to reach in the south and east. Despite the fact that Karpuzlu was built on an ancient texture and therefore the structures related to the Roman period have been largely destroyed, its ruins are among the best-preserved cities in the region. Although the data concerning the early settlement of the city, which has special importance with its history dating back to 2000 BC, have not been reached yet, the remains that have survived to the present day mostly belong to the IV. Century B.C.

The only historical event related to Alinda is related to Ada, the sister of the Carian satrap Mausolos, mentioned in Strabo. According to the narrative, after her husband's death in 1.0.340, Queen Ada was exiled to Alinda by her sister Pixodaros. Ada, who went to meet the Macedonians upon the arrival of Alexander the Great in Caria in 1.0.334, offers Alexander to leave Alinda and to support her relatives who seized the throne by force. As a result, after Alexander conquered Western Anatolia, he kept the queen in charge and gave him the management of all Caria. This event causes important developments in Alinda and causes the city to adopt Greek culture, starting from the Ada period.

The city, which consists of two acropolises due to its geographical structure, is surrounded by a city wall supported by two-story towers. In the city, an aqueduct rising on all fours as far as it is preserved, at the western end of the Upper Acropolis, is another important structure of the city. The remains of a nearly square water collection pool were preserved at the point where the water channel on the arch and the connection with the Upper Acropolis fortification wall was provided.

Other important structures of the city are the theater structure and the agora structure in the lower acropolis. The theater, whose seating rows and caveas have been preserved at approximately their original height, shows features of the Hellenistic Period.

In addition to the aforementioned architectural units, well-preserved burials in the necropolis areas are among the important ruins of the city. These burials, which are very well preserved with their original form, design, and workmanship, are important documents of Alinda's cultural past.