View site of original Smyrna An agora was a marketplace in which much of the commerce of the city took place. Think of it as the ancient equivalent of a shopping mall, often with the added feature of the county courthouse. Smyrna's agora is assumed to be a square of 128 meters per side. The vendors displayed their wares in the shade of covered colonnades surrounding the square. Middle-eastern bazaars are similar. Smyrna's agora was complex, with two or three levels and a large public building (the old meaning of basilica) on the north side. The location of a centuries-old cemetery over much of this area prevented the over-build that hides most of ancient Smyrna. In addition, the recent destruction of a school by fire made additional space accessible. The site, however, is still incomplete; modern buildings still cover a portion of the agora on the southern and eastern sides. The basilica on the north edge of the agora is in remarkable condition and is still being restored. The triple portico on the western edge is one of the best preserved Greek porticoes in the world. Only the basement level, however, has survived virtually intact. See links below for additional details. The Izmir city government has turned the agora into an open-air museum. For more on the ancient city, go to the other views. Want to go deeper?The following are recommended to help you look deeper into the history and archaeology of Smyrna. Cecil John Cadoux. Ancient Smyrna: A History of the City from the Earliest Times to 324 A.D. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1938. – Cadoux was born in Smyrna and then went on to become a professor at Oxford. Despite its age, this is one of the most detailed treatments of Smyrna available, though it is currently both out of print and unavailable through Amazon. You may be able to find it at a large library or seminary library. Recommended for purchase: Steve Singleton – Overcoming: A Study Guide for the Book of Revelation (DeeperStudy.com, 2004) – Provides the historical background of Smyrna and the other six cities of the Apocalypse, as well as a thorough introduction and brief commentary on the Apocalypse. Get digital edition and save almost 50%! Steve Singleton – Seven Letters to the Church (2006) – E-book drawn from Overcoming (see above), with additional material. Illustrated commentary on the Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia, as found in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. Includes history, culture, and archaeology of the churches, plus a summary of relevance for today as well as verse by verse comments. Illustrated with drawings & color photos, including satellite images of Ephesus, Pergamum, and Laodicea. Claude E. Fant & Mitchell G. Reddish – A Guide to Biblical Sites in Greece and Turkey (Oxford, 2003). – Nearly two-thirds of the New Testament, including all the letters of Paul, most of Acts, and the Book of Revelation, are set in either Turkey or Greece. This book serves as a historical, biblical, and archaeological guide to most of these biblical sites. View excerpt CD-ROM: Turkey: Pictorial Library of Bible Lands (2004) – Series is most complete collection of high resolution Bible Land images available... perfect for worship, class study, or personal Bible study! Highest quality available. This CD features more than 700 high-resolution digitized images, including: Cities of Paul's Journeys (Antioch on the Orontes, Seleucia, Tarsus, Pisidian Antioch, Lystra and Derbe, Colossae, Hierapolis, Assos, Alexandria Troas, and Miletus); seven churches of Revelation: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea; plus Istanbul, Cappadocia, Priene, and Troy. George Bean – Aegean Turkey: An Archaeological Guide (John Murray, 1989). Online resources: Christine Eslik, PhD – Recent and current excavations | Detailed plan of agora The Martyrdom of Polycarp – Eng. transl. by Cyril C. Richardson of a document almost contemporary with the event it narrates. Dick Osseman. Photos of Smyrna agora – These are some of the best photos available on the web. The agora photos start about half-way down the page. William M. Ramsay – "Smyrna: City of Life" | "The Letter to the Church in Smyrna" 251-267 and 268-280, respectively, from Letters to the Seven Churches & Their Place in the Plan of the Apocalypse, 2nd ed. (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1906). Burak Sansal. [History of] Izmir – Sansal is a Turkish professional tour guide. About DS Contact DS © 2008 DeeperStudy.com | Steve Singleton, All Rights Reserved | Smyrna Izmir Satellite Image |