The heads of the goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite, and the god of wine, Dionysus, were discovered in the ancient city of Aizanoi, located in the town of Çavdarhisar in Kütahya, which hosts the best-preserved Zeus Temple in Anatolia.
The heads of Aphrodite’s statue and Dionysus’s statue were found during excavation works in the central region of Turkey. Aizanoi Ancient City is located in the town center of Çavdarhisar, 50 kilometers away from Kütahya.
Aizanoi was the largest city of the Aizanitis people in ancient Phrygia, dating back to around 3000 B.C. The region was ruled by Bergama and Bithynia during the Hellenistic period but was conquered by the Romans in 133 B.C.
The site hosts one of the best-preserved temples dedicated to Zeus, the chief god of Olympus in ancient Greek mythology. Aizanoi Ancient City includes the Temple of Zeus, the Stadium-Theatre Complex, the Mausoleum (the World’s First Stock Exchange Building), two Roman Baths, an ancient dam structure, the Columned Street, and two Roman bridges, making it one of the most significant cities of the Roman period.
Gökhan Coşkun, an archaeology professor and the head of the excavation team, stated in an interview with AA news agency that many statue pieces were found during the excavation. Coşkun said, “The most exciting development for us this season is uncovering new heads of the goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite, and the god of wine, Dionysus.” He added, “We have unearthed more than 100 statue pieces in the excavation work we have conducted in the region so far. Some of the found heads belong to statues that are 2-3 meters tall.”
“These heads we discovered three years ago are in very well-preserved condition. In our excavations so far, we have found two Aphrodite and three Dionysus statue heads,” said Coşkun. He also mentioned that the excavation season, which began in April in the ancient city, would be completed by the end of this month.
