Blaundos Archaeological Site

Blaundos lies near the village of Sülümenli in Ulubey district, about forty kilometres from Uşak, in the Lydian region close to the Phrygian border. The city stands on a flat headland shaped like a peninsula, with steep drops on three sides into a canyon about a hundred metres deep, where a stream once supplied its water. It was most likely founded in the Hellenistic period, in the third century BC, by Macedonians who came after Alexander's Anatolian campaigns, and an inscription calls it the Macedonian Blaundeon. In 189 BC it passed from Pergamon to Rome, and it played a real part in the Roman period.

The only way in is a single gate with a tower on the north, where the peninsula meets the mainland. A Hellenistic arch of the northern walls still partly stands. Inside, you can find a stadium about 140 metres long with seating on one side only, the remains of a theatre on the eastern and southern slope, and an Ionic temple of prostyle type in the middle, thought to be dedicated to Athena and Homonoia. Two more temples lie outside the fortress, one dedicated to the Roman emperor Claudius.

Look also for aqueducts, the city walls, the mint area, administrative buildings and rock tombs near the theatre. Greek and Latin inscriptions add to the picture. The site has an atmosphere of isolation that few Aegean-side ruins offer.