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Philadelphia (Φιλαδέλφεια) was an ancient city in Anatolia and one of the Seven Churches of Revelation. It now sits beneath the modern city of Alaşehir.
History of Ancient Philadelphia
Philadelphia was founded in 189 BC by King Eumenes II of Pergamon. He named the city for the love of his brother and successor, Attalus II. The city was bequeathed to the Romans by Attalus III in 133 BC. Philadelphia later became an important center for Christianity. Along with Smyrna (now Izmir), it was one of two churches John spoke of positively in the Book of Revelation.
By the 6th century, Philadelphia was a prosperous Byzantine city. It was taken by the Seljuks in 1074 and recovered by Byzantine Emperor Alexios I during the First Crusade. The city became especially wealthy in the 13th and 14th centuries due to the production of leather and red-dyed silk. It fell in 1390 to Sultan Bayezid I and came under Ottoman rule.
The Greek army occupied Philadelphia from June 24, 1920, to 1922 during the Greco-Turkish War. The entire city burned in 1922, and both the Turkish and Greek sides have been blamed for starting the fire in which over 3,000 people died. All that’s left of ancient Philadelphia is a section of the Byzantine walls, part of a theatre, an unexcavated stadium, and the Basilica of Saint John. The rest is covered by the modern city of Alaşehir.
Basilica of Saint John
The Basilica of Saint John sits in the center of town. It’s open to the public daily and admission is free (as of July 2024). Visit the official website for more info.
The basilica was built in the late 6th or early 7th century and was topped by a dome. Only three of the massive pillars that supported the dome survive today. The base of the fourth pillar has been excavated and sits on the southwest corner.
If you look closely at the pillars, you can see black ash marks left by the fire that swept through the city in 1922. There are also the faint remains of frescoes on the northeast pillar.
In the garden are a few architectural fragments and sarcophagi as well as tombstones with Greek and Armenian inscriptions.
