Monuments of the Classical Past into Archaeological Ruins: Stadia and Gymnasia in Asia Minor from Late Antiquity up to Modern Times

Date

2024-6-11

Author

Kalfa, Başak

Metadata

Show full item record

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Item Usage Stats

301
views

94
downloads

Cite This

Stadia and gymnasia of Greco-Roman cities tangibly represent the primary heritage sources of humanity’s enduring intangible heritage: the heritage of sports. Despite their significance, these monumental complexes have been insufficiently investigated in the fields of architectural conservation and architectural history. From their establishment in the Archaic period to their monumentalization in the Roman period, their architectural evolution remains understudied. Furthermore, their state of preservation, both ancient and current, have not been thoroughly explored, including their transformation during Late Antiquity amidst shifting societal dynamics. Thus, this thesis aims at understanding the afterlives and survival of Greco-Roman athletic monuments, particularly stadia and gymnasia, in Asia Minor. These monuments, deeply rooted in pagan tradition, were gradually abandoned, neglected, dismantled, or repurposed (similar to other buildings of Classical Antiquity) with the onset of Christianity. While Christianity might be one of the most evident factors among various others, it cannot be considered the sole cause of the transformation of Classical cities into medieval cities in Byzantium. The factors, spanning centuries, are intertwined and encompass political, religious, and societal dynamics. Economic and administrative problems, as well as environmental factors, might also be prominent reasons for the transformation of Classical cities into medieval Byzantine ones, all of which are also scrutinized in the thesis. Late Antiquity, consequently, marked a breakdown in the survival of these buildings and signaled the beginning of their long-term transformation into today’s archaeological ruins. The question of continuity or discontinuity with the Classical past in Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages in terms of art, architecture, and urbanism has long been debated. In this regard, this thesis attempts to unravel the many lives of these building groups by embracing temporal theoretical approaches and documenting, as well as assessing, their current state of preservation through a selected group of case studies.

Subject Keywords

Greco-Roman Heritage, Sports Heritage, Late Antiquity, Byzantine City, Conservation of Archaeological Heritage

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/110151

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis