BIKE CLASSICAL: Vasada: Roman Theater and Christian Diocese

Photos by Jack A. Waldron

Ancient Vasada (sometimes referred to as Usada, Ousada, or Aasada (37°30'07.5"N 31°54'42.3"E) popped up on a road sign while I was cycling and circling around southwest Konya, and it hadn't initially been on my tour plan. This happens a lot in Turkey, because there are just so many ancient sites, and more being discovered all the time.

Pictured above and below, I think this is a variety of Gypsophila, or baby's-breath, and I am a sucker for wild flowers! If you love wild flowers, please check out my post on cycling through southern Kayseri on the road to Nigde.

The road I am on here is leading me into the village of Bostandere, and though I didn't know it at the time, the small mountain in the distance called Mount Kestel Dag is home to ancient Vasada.

Most of the small villages in Turkey are wonderful to see, because ancient history doesn't seem so past. Here in Bostandere, I was immediately welcomed, and some local guys invited me to be a guest for tea at a small 'cayhan' (tea house). It wasn't long before the village mayor joined us, and he showed me how to get up the mountain.

Pictured above, a beautifully painted horse cart, not unlike many transport trucks you see on the roads. Pictured below, a photo of a typical Ottoman style bay windowed house, and the village 'cesme', (fountain).

I have no doubt where the large square stone blocks of these houses originated from. I see the ancient city within their walls, and the past one hundred and fifty years as well, not to mention the large white marble building member in front of the house pictured below.

I mentioned archeologist William Mitchell Ramsey (1851-1939) in my post on ancient Barata, and well, he also visited Bostandere. Though the ancient theater had not yet been unearthed at the time of his visit (to my knowledge), he did conduct a survey of the area, and somehow (I haven't read his writings on Vasada, yet) determined that this was the site of ancient Vasada.

Besides the fertile farmlands that made this ancient city so important, it was a major respite along the road that connected Antioch of Pisidia, with Amblada, Mysthia, and Isauria, and then to the Mediterranean coast. Ptolemy recognized Vasada as a Hellenistic city, which dates its history back beyond the age of its 2-3C CE Roman theater.

Though findings from the sight are very few thus far, they do include a coin with the image of Augustus that was minted in Vasada. Also from the area, the Konya Archeological Museum has a relief of Zeus that was found in 1952 (pictured above, not my photo), and an altar with the image of a woman on one side and cornucopia on the opposing side, found in 1957 (pictured below, not my photo).

Though the site and theater are located high on the slope of the mountain, I was able to cycle up to the ancient city. There is a sometimes steep path that begins on the back side of the ancient city that winds its way up the slope, and then goes beyond to the ancient city to a quarry and a dam that may also have ancient origins. I didn't go as far as the dam (4 km up the mountain), but I am curious to find out if this dam also existed during ancient times, as it feeds the valley with water.

In the picture above, you can see a small white/yellow building down the slope in the direction of the village, which is a water works pump and distribution facility for Bostandere. It was during the 1969 construction and digging for the line leading to this station that the ancient theater was discovered. The blocks in the foreground are building members belonging to the theater.

As mentioned, the theater was built during 2-3C CE, and has approximately fifteen rows of seating. Unfortunately, a lot of the seating is missing, and the stage building has been stripped of its finishing stones, leaving only four rough pillar sections. Pictured above, you can see my bike leaning against one of these pillars, and the theater seating against the slope.

The theater had a capacity of a little over two thousand people, but as mentioned, the top rows and much of the end sections have been removed over time for use in other constructions.

The seats are made from gray andesite, with the material apparently having been sourced from the quarry I mentioned above, and which is located about two kilometers east of Vasada.

Excavations have been making very slow progress since 2010, and I really failed to see any evidence of ongoing work at the sight.

That said, there are some building members laid out at the left end of the theater, such as columns, seating and building blocks (pictured below).

The orchestra is surrounded by a low wall that was not normally meant to be used for seating, but to offer some separation from the events taking place.

However, this wall does not seem high enough to serve as a protective wall from gladiatorial battles or wild beasts, as in many other Roman built theaters.

There are numerous staircases that descend from the ambulatorium to allow access to the lower seating. The steps of the lower sections are adorned with magnificently sculpted lions feat and claws.

The theater end walls of the aditus (aditai?, plural, one at each end of the theater), are made of large square blocks. These walls would have supported the upper seating of the theater, and as you can see in the photo below, those seats and the wall are gone.

Though the upper levels of the end walls have been removed, many of them can be found in the houses and other buildings within the village. Pictured below, this is all that remains of the end wall on the right side of the theater.

The majority of the ancient residents of Vasada must have identified themselves as Christians, and the community must have been quite large, as bishops from the city attended the First Council of Nicaea in 325 CE, the Council of Chalcedon in 451 CE (near Constantinople), the Council of Constantinople in 536 CE and in 879-880 CE, and the Council in Trullo in 692 CE.

You can see in the photo below, that the end wall of the left side of the theater was still buried under soil when I visited. However, the upper level of seating at this end is missing, and if there is any wall remaining under the soil, it will be low.

There is basically nothing more to see of ancient Vasada. There is a necropolis, and I think I might have camped within it that night. The wider city has not yet been excavated, but I do think the site is worth a visit, and a stop at Bostandere would encourage the locales to preserve and discover the antiquities that are still hidden under the surface.