Stadium, Aphrodisias, Stauroupolis

Aphrodisias was a small Hellenistic and Roman city in the ancient precinct of Caria, on the southwestern coast of Asia Minor. The site is located near the modern village of Geyre, some 230 km from Izmir. Aphrodisias was named after Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. The city was renamed Stauroupolis ("City of the Cross") in Byzantine times, circa 640 AD. The 1st-Century AD Roman Stadium, the northernmost monument within the Archaeological site, is also the largest and one of the best preserved edifices not only in Aphrodisias, but in the ancient world altogether. This elliptical structure, measuring some 262 by 59 meters, has semicircular convex edges and a seating arrangement for some 30,000 spectators. The entrance to the Stadium was via a double-vaulted portal. The Stadium was mostly used for athletic events. An earthquake in the 7th Century badly damaged the Stadium, requiring it to undergo transformation. A smaller theater-like arena was then built in its eastern end, by adding circular walls and completing a full circle of the Stadium's eastern half-circle edge.