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©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project
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Parlais |
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Type:
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City |
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Altitude:
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m |
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Region:
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Mediterranean |
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Province:
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Isparta |
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District:
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Egirdir |
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Village:
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Barla |
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Investigation Method:
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Survey |
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Period:
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Roman Hellenistic |
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| It is situated on a slightly inclined slope extending from the mountains to the shore of the lake at the Barla Town; 30 km north of the Egirdir District of the Isparta Province. The city minted her semi-independent coinage with the legend "Parlaiteon" from the first half of the 1st century B.C. During the reign of Augustus; it was converted into a colony named as Iulia Augusta Colonia Parla. Lack of any strategical significance can be explained simply by the fact that the colony might have failed to determine a convenient location for settlement at the shores of the Egridir Lake so that it was founded at this convenient site. Due to its location; Parlais is known to have been the smallest and least significant one among other colonies [Levick 1967: 54]. Starting from the period of M. Aurelius (161-180 A.D.); the title "Hadriana" appears on the coinage of Parlais; which might indicate that the Emperor Hadrian might have paid a visit to the colony [Göktürk 1997: 55]. The city minted coins until the period of Caracalla (211-217 A.D.). The hill 1.5 km northwest of Barla is considered to have been the acropolis of the settlement. B. Pace; who visited the site at several times from 1914; claimed that Barla was Parlais. With the help of some inscriptions found by Louis Robert; Parlais was localized at Barla [Robert 1935: 98]. The survey conducted in 2001 under the direction of M. Özsait on behalf of the Univesity of Istanbul yielded intense architectural remains and potsherds. The buildings constructed on terraces with a fine masonry didn't survived to the present day. A rock grave with a pitched roof and three klines was found to the west of the Demirkapi Brook and northwest of Galli Bagari. The gate is flanked by two square-shaped niches for votives; and there is a crenel-like aperture inside a large niche on the upper part of the gate. With different characteristics compared to other buildings in the region; it can be dated to the Late Hellenistic Period. A rock grave with a pitched roof and two klines from the Roman Period located at the Ambarceviz Mevkii between the villages of Barla and Bagören belongs to a necropolis of a settlement within the territorium of the ancient city (see Ambarceviz Mevki). A rock altar with a flight of five steps was identified at the summit of the mountain at Barla; which has been suggested to have belonged to the cult of Kybele. |
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