Patara North gate

The honor arch of Mettius Modestus in Patara was a monumental Roman structure, built in 48-49 by the city inhabitants in honor of Mettius Modestus and his family, following the Roman annexation of Lycia, of which Patara was the capital.

This monumental honor arch or nymphaeum is an icon of the city and Lycia and it is unique for its double function: it served not only as the northern city gate, but was also the final part of the Delikkemer aqueduct, through which water flowed into the city.

History

Patara was an important city in antiquity: it was the capital of the Lycian League and of Lycia when it was annexed by the Romans.

The gate was probably planned during the reign of Claudius, who made Lycia a Roman province, and the structure was completed during the reigns of the emperors Nero and Vespasian. Later the inscription on the consoles of the gate was added in honor of the Lycian governor Mettius Modestus and his family members from the period of Emperor Trajan, as well as the statues of Emperor Trajan and his wife Plotina, which were placed on the top of the gate.

Early in the 19th century the ruin was drawn, among others, by Charles Texier. It had become somewhat ruined over the centuries by earthquakes and was restored in 2020 using only its original stones that had been found in the surrounding area.

Location

The honor arch is located on the east flank of the Tepecik hill on the north side of the city. It thus separated the city from the more northerly necropolis. From the honor arch a main road with colonnaded passageways ran southward, toward the theater.

Structure

The honor arch is 19 meters wide and 10 meters high and contains three gates. On the north side is the inscription "Built by the city inhabitants of the Lycian metropolis Patara." Above it were the statues of Emperor Trajan and his wife Plotina.

The conduit of the aqueduct ran above in the monumental structure that was in fact a nymphaeum: high in the centre there is a square opening in which part of the supplied water flowed, to fall down as a water curtain. The water supplied by the aqueduct flowed through the gate into the dividiculum leaning against the west side of the gate. From there the water was distributed into the city, with the harbour bathhouse as the first receptacle. Fifty metres south of the gate stood an octagonal ornamental pond, which presumably contained a monumental fountain that operated on the siphon action of the aqueduct.

External links

(tr) Various photos on Patara Kent Kapısı from the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

(tr) The triumphal arch in the cultural inventory overview of the monuments in Patara.