The GalloRoman Museum in Tongeren is mounting a blockbuster exhibition entitled ‘Sagalassos, City of Dreams’, which will run
. The ancient city of
Sagalassos in the south of Turkey is one of the most beautiful archaeological sites in the
Mediterranean and the Belgian archaeologist Marc Waelkens of the K.U.Leuven has been carrying out excavation work there for more than 20 years. The Gallo-Roman Museum is the first and only
European museum to present a retrospective exhibition of this kind. Never before have the precious finds been allowed to leave Turkish soil.
Burgeoning
Sagalassos lies in the southern province of Burdur in Turkey, high up in the mountains some 100 km to the north of the seaside resort of Antalya. The ancient city had an eventful history. Alexander the
Great captured it in 333 BC. In 25 BC the Roman emperor Augustus made Sagalassos part of the
Roman Empire. Under Emperor Hadrian (117-138 AD) Sagalassos flourished and magnificent monuments, temples, fountains, Roman bath houses, etc. were built. The ambitious elite dreamt of making the city great and they realized their dreams. Sagalassos became a City of Dreams.
Decline
In the 4 th century Sagalassos was Christianized and the Church became a major power. But an epidemic of plague and two powerful earthquakes at the beginning of the 6 th and 7 th centuries AD heralded its decline. In the 13 th century Sagalassos became a ghost town. Fortunately, its remote location high up on a mountainside deterred plunderers. Layers of erosion material metres thick hid the buildings from view and protected them.
Excavation work
Sagalassos fell into oblivion and remained that way until the beginning of the 18 th century when a
French doctor described its remains. Another batch of explorers and scientists followed in the 19 th century, some of whom left behind magnificent drawings and later also photographs. But it was a
Belgian who started the excavation work proper in the early 1990s. Under the leadership of Professor
Marc Waelkens of the K.U.Leuven, an interdisciplinary team of scientists descended upon the site and they have spent the last 20 years systematically uncovering the ancient city in what is one of the largest excavations in the Mediterranean world.

Finds
Sagalassos is so well preserved that in-depth research is possible and the city can be rebuilt stone by stone. The many items brought to the surface by Professor Waelkens’ team testify to the city’s complex and fascinating history. These items include monumental architectural fragments, life-size statues of Roman gods and emperors and other intriguing objects ranging from prehistoric tools and red-painted pottery dishes through fragments of bronze sculptures and oil lamps bearing Christian motifs to freeze slabs depicting dancing nymphs and lavishly decorated capitals. Many of these wonders have been allowed to leave Turkish soil for the first time for a retrospective exhibition at the
Gallo-Roman Museum in Tongeren.
Exhibition
‘Sagalassos, City of Dreams’ is not a classic archaeological exhibition, but a total experience. The internationally-celebrated Belgian opera director and set designer Guy Joosten has come up with a bold design. The exhibition is presented as a dramatic event. Joosten wants visitors to look at things differently. He lights certain exhibits from different sides, including the monumental marble portrait of the Roman emperor Hadrian and images of ancient gods and goddesses. To evoke the atmosphere of the archaeological site, film shots are shown on a 270-degree panoramic screen that floats in the middle of the room above a scale model of Sagalassos in its heyday.
Grand finale
Like any truly dramatic event, ‘Sagalassos, City of Dreams’ culminates in a haunting grand finale: the city’s decline. Joosten evokes the fatal earthquake of the beginning of the 7 th century with a set dominated by strong lines and sharp contrasts between red and black. Amidst modern-day debris strewn here and there, the visitor meets the silent but commanding witnesses of the sheer grandeur of the ancient city. Here Joosten groups a number of the exhibition highlights according to theme. And the apotheosis? Emperor Hadrian’s monumental, marble head.
For young and old
The highly-original set, the use of media, the pervading atmosphere and the collection of chefsd’oeuvre combine to make ‘Sagalassos, City of Dreams’ a ‘must see’ for the whole family.
The European Museum of the Year 2011 extends a warm welcome
The Sagalassos exhibition will be the culmination of an unforgettable year for the Gallo-Roman
Museum. In May the museum was nominated ‘European Museum of the Year 2011’: the prize for the best new or recently renovated museum in the European Union. The prize is partly the result of investments made by Limburg’s provincial authorities since1991 which have enabled the Gallo-Roman
Museum to grow and excel. With the exhibition ‘Sagalassos, City of Dreams’ the museum is keen to show that the prize was well deserved.

Gallo-Roman Museum
Kielenstraat 15 | 3700 Tongeren
Belgium
Tel + 32 12 67 03 30
Fax + 32 12 67 03 33 grm@limburg.be
www.galloromeinsmuseum.be
Opening times:
• Tuesdays to Fridays, 9 - 17.00 hrs
• Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays, school holidays (Belgium), 10 - 18.00 hrs
Guided tours:
Members of the public can visit the exhibition with an experienced guide. To ensure a consistently high standard, we accept a maximum of 25 people per group. This means that the guide can tailor the tour to visitors’ requirements and answer any questions.
Duration: 1 ½ hours
Max. number of people per group: 25
Cost: 50 euros per group
Admission:
Sagalassos, City of Dreams
Adults: 10 euros
- 26-year-olds: 1 euro
55+, disabled, concession holders and groups: 8 euros
Families: 21euros
Sagalassos, City of Dreams + permanent exhibition
Adults: 15 euros
- 26-year-olds: 1 euro
55+, disabled, concession holders and groups: 10 euros
Families: 31 euros
The exhibition is presented in five languages, also in English.

Colossal, white marble head from a statue of the Roman Emperor Hadrian (120-125 AD)
The sculpture was found among the rubble of the large bath complex in Sagalassos in 2007. In addition to the head of the statue, which must have reached a total height of almost 5 metres, parts of the legs and feet were also found. The sculptured figure was what is known as an ‘acrolith’, i.e. having a head and extremities of stone and the torso of other material. In this case, marble was used for the flesh, while the parts clad in garments or armour consisted of wood concealed with gilded bronze.
None of the latter materials have survived. The head from Sagalassos is undoubtedly one of the finest portraits of Emperor Hadrian ever found. It shows the young emperor shortly after acceding to the throne in 117 AD.
Colossal marble head from a statue of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (161-180 AD)
The head belonged to what must have been a colossal statue of the philosopher emperor Marcus
Aurelius. It was almost five metres high. It was probably commissioned and finished around 165 AD, during the period when the large bath complex was being built in Sagalassos. It was found there amongst the rubble in 2008. In the bath house it must have stood side by side with the statue of
Emperor Hadrian, a number of his successors and their respective wives. These statues were made up of different materials. The flesh parts and the red-painted boots of the statue of Marcus Aurelius were cut from top-quality, white marble. Nothing has survived of his bronze clothing and gilded bronze armour. They had been attached by skilled craftsmen to a wooden frame inside the statue, making the acrolith easier to move.
Colossal white marble head from a statue of Demeter (117-138 AD)
The statue may have been part of the decoration on the Odeion, Sagalassos’ covered concert hall.
The sculpture dates from the time of the Roman Emperor Hadrian (117-138 AD). The complete statue must have been several metres high.
Marble head from a statue of a young (heroized) aristocrat
The statue adorned the entrance hall of the North-West Heroon, an important monument erected in the upper city at the time of Emperor Augustus (27 BC - 14 AD). Sagalassos’ elite contributed to the city’s development and burgeoning by financing religious festivals and the building of public edifices and monuments.

Limestone freeze slabs with beautifully sculpted depictions of a cithara player and four almost life-size dancers
The freeze slabs were part of the monumental decoration on the North-West Heroon, an important shrine built in Sagalassos’ upper city at the time of Emperor Augustus (27 BC - 14 AD). It also housed the statue of the young aristocrat (see above).
Limestone cinerary urn in the shape of a vase (1 st century AD)
The urn is beautifully decorated with garlands of fruit but also with tragic (theatre) masks. The cinerary urn’s lavish ornamentation refers to the city’s ‘golden age’. Spurred on by the Roman Emperor
Augustus (27 BC - 14 AD) and his successors, in the 1 st century AD Sagalassos flourished and became a monumental city with Roman characteristics.

Alexander the Great
Sagalassos’ dramatic location is mirrored by the city’s turbulent history. It began around 333 BC, when the Macedonian general Alexander the Great seized Sagalassos. A fierce battle ensued. In the end the Sagalassians tasted defeat, but their staunch resistance earned them a reputation for being pugnacious.
Emperor Augustus
In 25 BC the Roman emperor Augustus made Sagalassos part of the Roman Empire, bringing peace and prosperity to the city. He created the conditions that allowed the local elite to make Sagalassos a dependable and prosperous part in the Roman world by, for example, constructing a new road to the ports on the south coast. Some five new colonies of Italian veterans substantially expanded the regional market. All this brought people flocking to a rich and increasingly prestigious city that was quick to innovate. Grain, olives, good-quality red slip tableware and possibly also pine-trees were exported and formed the basis of the economy.
When Sagalassos was at its zenith, it had the same population as ancient Tongeren. Thousands of kilometres separated these two medium-size provincial cities, but they belonged to the same Roman cultural territories. Ambitious elite figures fostered grand plans for their modest provincial city. And those dreams came true. The city became a veritable metropolis, boasting magnificent monuments, temples, fountains, Roman baths and the like. So the story of Sagalassos is one of “Yes, we can!”, of visionary leadership and belief in progress.
Emperor Hadrian
Under Emperor Hadrian (117-138 AD) Sagalassos scaled new heights. He made the city the official centre of the imperial cult for the whole of Pisidia. He also bestowed a new honorary title on
Sagalassos : “First city of Pisidia, friend and ally of the Romans”. These words appeared on public buildings and coins. Sagalassos increasingly reaped the fruits of its visionary administration. The dreams of the elite became reality. The city’s new status brought with it new responsibilities. In all probability thousands of people from all over the region flocked to the mountain city every year for the imperial festivities. Huge thermae, a theatre, sumptuously decorated fountains, etc. sprang up. The capacity of the new buildings far surpassed the needs of a provincial city with a population of 5,000 at most.
Christian city
In the 4 th century Sagalassos became a Christian city and the Church an important power. By no later than around 381 AD Sagalassos had a Catholic bishop. The ecclesiastical authorities were elected, carried out charitable deeds and helped run the city. A new age dawned for Sagalassos.

Decline
As a result of an epidemic of plague and two powerful earthquakes at the beginning of the 6 th and the beginning of the 7 th centuries AD, Sagalassos waned and was gradually abandoned. By the 13 th century it was a mere ghost town. In the meantime the nearby Turkish town of what is known today as
Ağlasun (which derives from 'Sagalassos') came into being.
Sagal assos’ remote location, high up on a mountain side, deterred plunderers. Erosion layers several metres thick not only hid the buildings from sight, but also protected them from decay.

Interdisciplinary scientific research
The research work carried out in Sagalassos is distinctly interdisciplinary in nature. In other words, many scientists from a whole range of disciplines are involved and share information. The ultimate objective of the research project in Sagalassos is to reconstruct and understand the origin, the burgeoning and the decline of the city in relation to its hinterland. Professor Marc Waelkens’ large team of scientists cover such disciplines as archaeology, cartography, geology, geomorphology, archaeozoology, anthropology, paleobotany and palynology.
Anastylosis
Sagalassos has survived in such remarkably good condition that scientists are able to rebuild the city stone by stone and restore it to its original splendour. This is done by what is known technically as
‘anastylosis’. Anastylosis is the reconstruction of monuments using at least 80% of their original components. Incomplete or missing stones are supplemented or replaced by stones newly hewn from the original type of stone by stonemasons using ancient cutting and building techniques. Supplemental components are limited to those necessary for stability. Three monuments have now been reconstructed in Sagalassos: a late-Hellenistic natural springs building, the North-West Heroon and the fountain on the Upper Agora. These restored monuments make stunning postcards.

The excavation work in Sagalassos has been carried out in close cooperation with Turkish scientists.
Every year the local population from the nearby Ağlasun takes an active part in the work on site. This
Belgo-Turkish cooperation is a real success story. With the Sagalassos exhibition, Professor
Waelkens and the Gallo-Roman Museum also want to bring an important part of Turke y’s heritage to the attention of the Turkish community in Belgium. The whole exhibition can be followed in Turkish.
Together with the Turkish Union of Belgium, the Union of Turkish Organizations, Fedactio and the
FZO-VL, specific events will be staged during the exhibition and tailor-made guided tours and activity programmes organized.
To tie in with the exhibition, the Gallo-Roman Museum is also keen to shed light on other aspects of modernday Turkey’s culture. As well as being steeped in history, Turkey has an extremely interesting and lively arts scene which deserves to be seen and heard. An enlightening programme has been put together in conjunction with De Velinx, arts festival 0090, Zebra cinema and Dance in Limburg, resulting in a highly original mix of music, dance, film and photography.

In May the GalloRoman Museum was nominated ‘European Museum of the Year 2011’, winning the prize for the best new or recently renovated museum in the European Union. The award was presented by the European Museum Forum under the auspices of the Council of Europe.
The jury praised the museum for the way it manages to bring the distant past to life for different types of visitor, without being pedantic. The report had t his (among other things) to say: “The museum does not shy away from the task of dealing with uncertainties, and the presentation guides visitors through the subjects but does not impose decisive conclusions. The exhibition is authoritative but not authoritarian. It is thought-provoking and provides the visitor with the information he needs to make up his own mind.” The jury also praised the layered approach to the story, the comprehensive educational infrastructure and the way the building has been integrated into the cityscape.
The prize is partly the result of investments made by Limburg’s provincial authorities since1991 which have enabled the GalloRoman Museum to grow and excel. With the exhibition ‘Sagalassos, City of
Dreams’ the museum is keen to show that the prize was well deserved.