Tripolis — The City at the Crossing of Three Regions

The city was founded in the Hellenistic period under the name Apollonia. After being known for a short time as Antoniopolis, it took the name Tripolis in the 1st century BC and carried that name until it was abandoned in the 7th century AD.

The changes of name cannot be thought of apart from the city's position: Tripolis stands within the bounds of Lydia, but exactly where the regions of Phrygia and Caria meet. That it held a population coming from three regions is reported as the explanation of its name, which means three.

The city lies on the bank of the Menderes (Maeandros by its ancient name) and was one of the stops of the trade of the basin. Ancient writers such as Pliny and Ptolemy mention it; from the 17th century onwards it also became a call for European travellers.

On the site a theatre, a bath, a stadium, city gates, streets and a council building can be seen — most of them belong to the Roman period. On the top of the hill, a fortress with round towers completes the city from above.

Excavation and restoration have run year-round since 2012 on behalf of Pamukkale University and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, under the direction of Prof. Dr. Bahadır Duman. The site is therefore not fixed: it is ordinary for a new building to have been raised between two visits.

Over the more than ten years of the excavation, residential quarters, churches, colonnaded streets, monumental fountains, vaulted buildings and buildings on podiums, agoras and rows of shops have been brought to light and repaired. Walking the site, you see one part still under excavation and the part immediately beside it already raised.

When ancient cities around Denizli are mentioned, Hierapolis and Laodicea come to mind first. Tripolis is the third, and it is visited less than the other two — an advantage for anyone who wants to walk a site without the crowds.

It fits comfortably into the same day as a trip to Buldan; if you are going to the town, the site is on the way.