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Adada, a Pisidian Gateway City of Paved Streets

Heading south from Isparta toward Sütçüler, the road eventually brings you to a quiet valley near Sağrak Village. Among pines and scrub, neatly cut stones, standing walls and column fragments rise from the ground.

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Adada, a Pisidian Gateway City of Paved Streets

Heading south from Isparta toward Sütçüler, the road eventually brings you to a quiet valley near Sağrak Village. Among pines and scrub, neatly cut stones, standing walls and column fragments rise from the ground. This is the ancient city of Adada. One of the best preserved small cities of the Pisidia region, Adada lies away from the busy tourist routes, so you can explore it at your own pace. This article explains where the city stands, which sources its history rests on, which structures can be seen today and how to approach the site safely.

A gateway city near Sağrak Village

According to the entry on the Culture Portal, compiled from the Isparta Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism, the ancient city lies on the Isparta-Sütçüler district road. It is two kilometres from Sağrak Village and ninety kilometres from the provincial centre. The same page notes that the city is ten kilometres from the centre of Sütçüler. Signs at the village exit lead to the site. The page of the Archaeology Department at Süleyman Demirel University says that local people call the area Karabavlu.

The city's position is its most distinctive feature. The university's survey page says Adada held an important transit position between the Pisidia and Pamphylia regions. The Culture Portal adds that the city stood on an ancient road that followed the western shore of Lake Beyşehir, passed the ancient settlements around Yalvaç, Şarkikaraağaç and Aksu, and continued through Adada toward Kozan and Perge. Adada was therefore a stop on the route between the interior and the Mediterranean coast. The city was built in a relatively flat and wide upland valley, which is why the site still feels open, airy and easy to walk.

The trace of a name and the founding of the city

The founding date of the city is not known with certainty. The Culture Portal writes that its name first appears in Artemidoros and that the city was identified in 1888 by G. Hirschfeld and W. M. Ramsay. The name also appears in an agreement text between Termessos and Adada dated to the 2nd century BC. According to the university page, this treaty inscription was found in the city of Termessos. The same page says that in his Geographika, Strabo reports that Adada's name was mentioned among other Pisidian cities by Artemidoros. Later, Ptolemaios and Hierokles also mention the city.

Coins were also struck in the city in the 1st century BC. The Culture Portal draws from this that the city is thought to have been founded before that date. Concrete evidence for the Hellenistic period comes from gravestones. Some gravestones found in Cyprus and Phoenicia belong to mercenaries from Adada. These stones show that soldiers from Adada served in the armies of Hellenistic kings. That people from a small mountain city served in armies overseas suggests a settlement with an outward-looking past.

The bright years of the Roman Imperial period

According to the Culture Portal, the reigns of Traianus, Hadrianus and Antoninus Pius were the brightest years of Adada in the Roman Imperial period. Most of the structures a visitor sees today belong to this era. The university page says the temples of Adada are important examples of Roman Imperial temple architecture in Pisidia. Among them, the Temple of Traianus is one of the best known among the temples of the region. The page suggests that it may have been built before the years 110-114 AD.

On the door lintel of the building known as the Temple of the Emperors there is an inscription naming the person who commissioned it and his offices. The building is thought to have been built in the same years as the Temple of Traianus, after 114 AD. The Temple of the Emperors and Zeus Megistos-Serapis is dated to the 160s AD thanks to the inscription on its architrave block. The inscription says that the stoas and workshops around the temple were dedicated together with it. Another structure, the Temple of the Emperors and Aphrodite, is suggested to have stood east of the building called the Governor's Palace; the inscribed blocks are thought to belong to a circular building. Because these dates rest on inscriptions, it is possible to read in which years the city grew with which buildings.

In other words, the city speaks through inscriptions and coins. In Late Antiquity it is mentioned as a bishopric centre. Traces of this period can be seen in the large three-aisled basilica in the west of the city.

Agora, forum and the open-air assembly place

The heart of the city is formed by the gathering places west of the acropolis and the forum added to them. According to the Culture Portal, the acropolis on the rocky ground was built for defence and surrounded by walls and towers. In the western part of the acropolis lies the city's open-air assembly place. The forum and the basilica, the commercial and administrative centre of the city, were later added in front of this assembly place.

The forum of Adada covers an area of thirty-two by forty-five metres. Its floor is paved with neat stones and a large cistern sits in its centre. A street runs along the west of the forum, and colonnaded galleries, that is stoas, stand on the other two sides. In the north there is a basilica running east to west, and in the southeast corner stands a monumental fountain. The university page says that the agora west of the acropolis served as the commercial, administrative and religious centre of the city during the Hellenistic and Early Roman Imperial periods. North of the agora, planned in the 2nd century BC, there is a multi-storey, two-aisled stoa, and to the south a single-aisled stoa.

The open-air assembly place looks like a staircase of twenty steps. According to the page, this is where the citizens gathered at certain intervals to work on the city's problems. Looking at these steps today, you can see how a small Pisidian city governed itself. The main street passes west of the agora, and the traces of the stoas on both sides are still visible.

Theatre, residential terraces and necropolis

The theatre leans against a hillside in the northwest of the city plain. The Culture Portal writes that the stage building and orchestra remain underground, while the seating area was cleared by a museum rescue excavation. On capacity, the sources give different figures. The Culture Portal gives the present capacity as one thousand, while the university page thinks it may be five hundred. It is therefore correct to describe the capacity as somewhere between five hundred and one thousand, according to the sources.

The residential area is the subject of a separate academic study. According to the 2025 article by Altınışık and Mörel, the residential quarter of Adada was built on terraces on the south-facing slope of the valley, southwest of the agora. The terraces were shaped with retaining walls, and the houses were designed in a multi-storey arrangement on them. The article says the residential layout points to continuous habitation from the Hellenistic period to Late Antiquity. The study was carried out with support from the Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit of Süleyman Demirel University.

There are many necropolis areas in the city. The university page notes that within the northwestern necropolis there is a podium tomb monument that looks like a small temple. According to the Culture Portal, the city also has an administrative building, a basilica, an acropolis and a tomb monument. Some of these structures have undergone only very limited restoration, which means the site is seen mostly in its natural state, weathered but authentic.

Research and excavation history

The city drew the attention of European researchers in the late 19th century. The Culture Portal links this to the identification by G. Hirschfeld and W. M. Ramsay in 1888. More recently, the seating of the theatre was cleared by a museum rescue excavation. The most comprehensive work is the surface survey carried out between 2021 and 2024. It was conducted under the permit of the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and with the support of Süleyman Demirel University, led by Assoc. Prof. Ahmet Mörel.

Surface surveys do not open the soil as excavations do; they document the location, plan and inscriptions of structures. The dating of the temples, the layout of the agora and the residential terraces become clearer through this kind of work. Reading these sources before you go makes the stones you see on site much more meaningful.

How to visit

The site is reached from the Isparta-Sütçüler road by following the signs at the Sağrak Village exit. There is an information board at the entrance to the city. According to the walking description on the Culture Portal, a short way along the path that continues southeast from the board brings you to the wide forum area. Here you can examine the neatly dressed stones and take photographs. The same page gives an important warning: climbing on the stones is dangerous and damages them. For this reason you should walk around the forum without stepping on the stones.

From the forum, the path heading southeast reaches the Byzantine-period basilica after about three hundred and fifty metres, passing ruins and water cisterns. After the basilica the path turns toward the stream bed. About five hundred metres beyond the basilica you reach the stone-paved road. This is the King's Road, part of the long waymarked route known as the St. Paul Trail. The Culture Portal says that large gaps in the road carry a risk of twisting an ankle and that the road is quite slippery in wet weather. The paved section, about seven hundred metres long, ends in a wooded area; from there a descent down the slope leads to the southern exit of Sağrak Village.

The Culture Portal's tourism activities page also presents a nature trekking route that starts at Adada, passes along the King's Road to the centre of Sütçüler and continues to the Yazılı Canyon. For those who do not plan the long route, even a short visit to the city is recommended as sufficient preparation for the King's Road walk. A flat-soled shoe that supports the ankle makes things easier. Since the stones become slippery after rain, it is wise to keep the walk short on those days.

Opening hours, entry conditions and the current state of the trail may change over time. Before your visit, check the current information from the Isparta Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism and kulturportali.gov.tr. For photography, both the Roman and Byzantine structures and the valley views offer good frames.

Sources

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