Agora of Hierapolis

The Agora of Hierapolis was the main public square and commercial center of the ancient city, located within the Pamukkale archaeological zone in Denizli province. Its eastern side was defined by a basilica-stoa, a long colonnaded hall dating to the second century AD, built on two stories and combining Ionic columns on the lower level with Corinthian columns above, an arrangement typical of grand civic architecture in Roman Asia Minor. As the commercial and social hub of Hierapolis, the agora would have hosted markets, public gatherings, and official business, and its scale reflects the prosperity the city enjoyed under Roman rule, when income from its textile industry and the renown of its thermal springs supported ambitious public building projects. The remains of the stoa, with its two tiers of columns, are among the structures that survive within the agora area today.