Iasos – Submerged Agora Harbour of Caria
Ἴασος · Iassos · Iasus · Kıyıkışlacık Iasos
Archaic to Byzantine (800 BCE – 700 CE)·Argive Greek / Carian / Hellenistic / Roman·🇹🇷 Muğla Province, Milas, Kıyıkışlacık, Turkey
About
About Iasos – Submerged Agora Harbour of Caria
Iasos on a small peninsula in the Gulf of Güllük preserved a lagoon harbour whose agora stoa (c. 120 m) is now at −1.5 m to −3 m with fish market tanks. The 'fishopolis' of antiquity (Athenaeus: Iasos celebrated for fish) exported red marble (rosso iassense) and garum. Excavations by Doro Levi and Fede Berti (1960–) revealed the Hellenistic harbour walls and the submerged Doric stoa of the agora cut by sea-level rise ~+1.8 m since Classical plus subsidence of the peninsula isthmus. The eastern lagoon now a bird reserve silted 1.5 km inland; the western harbour remains semi-submerged with mole fragments at −2 m.
Why it mattersOnly Carian lagoon harbour with submerged agora stoa proving urban centre drowned while lagoon silted opposite side of peninsula.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Whether peninsula isthmus was artificial cut for harbour
- 02Location of Artemis Astias temple under Byzantine basilica
Theories
- 01Iasos chosen specifically for double basin (east lagoon silted, west drowned) sheltering fish ponds
- 02Red marble export funded Hellenistic stoa
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 800 BCE Argive colony of Iasos
- Period
- Archaic to Byzantine (800 BCE – 700 CE)
- Culture
- Argive Greek / Carian / Hellenistic / Roman
- Builders
- Argive Greeks / Carians
- Purpose
- Fish, garum and rosso iassense marble harbour on Gulf of Güllük
- Abandoned
- c. 700 CE after Arab raids and harbour silting
- Rediscovered
- 1960 by Doro Levi (Italian Mission)
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
c. 800 BCE
Argive colony founded on peninsula isthmus
405 BCE
Lysander winters fleet at Iasos
1960
Levi Italian Mission begins; notes submerged agora stoa
On the ground
Structures & features
37.2794° N · 27.5858° E · -1 m · 2 mapped features
Submerged agora Doric stoa
stoa120 m Doric stoa at −1.5 m under harbour
37.2790° N · 27.5860° EWestern harbour mole fragments
moleHarbour mole fragments at −2 m
37.2800° N · 27.5840° E
Gallery