Of the many archaeological remains at the Turkish site of Sagalassos a good number of them are located around the Upper Agora. An agora is a Greek term for the large open space in a typical Greek polis.
The Upper Agora at Sagalassos
See the image below to locate structures
Click on Image to Enlarge
During the Roman period the Latin term forum is often used to refer to this space. In both the Greek and the Roman worlds people would meet here, goods and services were offered for sale, and on their perimeters temples to a variety of deities (and often emperors), law courts (Acts 16:19), council houses (Bouleuterion), monumental water fountains (nymphaeum) and honorific monuments (touting leading citizens of a polis) were common.
The Upper Agora at Sagalassos is no exception. It, and surrounding structures, have been excavated and partially reconstructed—thus allowing visitors to the site to easily enter into the life of the ancient city.
It was in agoras and forums around the Roman World that philosophers would teach their students and it would have been there that the Apostle Paul (Acts 17:17), Barnabas, Silas, Phoebe, etc. would have had the opportunity to share their faith. The term agora is used 11 times in the New Testament (9 of the uses in the Gospels).
Our Turkish friends in front of the reconstructed Nymphaeum at Sagalassos.
Click on the city names to view agoras at: Perge, Athens, Thessaloniki, Smyrna, Corinth, and Philippi.
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