AGORA

AGORA

The square, which was used as a meeting place in the ancient Greek sites, and later as a religious, political and commercial center.

Trade and art developed over time in the settlement period in Greece. As a result, those engaged in this business sought a collective place. They began to choose the port cities and near the agora. Places used as gathering places before; started to be used as warehouses, sales places and buildings where goods were exchanged. The developments in the social life also showed their effect in the architectural field and a brand new architectural style developed. Ionian type agoras emerged. It was surrounded by a portico on three sides and one side was open to the street. All the main roads of the city were opened to agar. There were agoras in Greek sites such as Miletos, Bergama, and Assos in Western Anatolia. The agora, which is a very respected place in terms of religion, was also the political center of the city in which it was located. To enter here, one had to be clean and innocent. Under the Draconian laws, murderers could not enter. In time, religious gatherings were removed from the agora. In the judicial field, the agora was a symbol of the people of the site. The people could follow the hearings of the courts from here.

The agora of Athens, which was unearthed during the excavations for the construction of a school in Athens in 1935, and the agoras of the cities of Perge, Side and Aspendos in the Anatolian vicinity of Antalya are among the most prominent agoras.

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