Metropolis - A Mother Goddess City in Ionia

Metropolis is a city of the Mother Goddess in Ionia. The classical city of Metropolis is situatcd 45 km from izmir and the Acgean coast overlooking the Torbalı plain alongside the izmir - Aydın motorway. in classical times the communi-cation route was the Cayster River (Küçük Menderes) and Metropolis lay at the m id point betvveen Smyrna and Ephe-sus. Lying beneath the classical city are Neolithic and Bronze Age settlcments - and above the classical city is a Byzanıinc settlement and fort, also used during the Ottoman period. Metropolis lived its golden era during the Late Hellenistic Period. Altars vvere ereeted in honour of Emperor Augustus during Roman Imperial Period. it became a bishopric in the Age of Byzantine Empire. Its people governed the city from its aeropolis, vvorshipped gods, vvandered and şhopped in its stoa, decided on city in bouleuterion, enjoyed plays in its thcatre. Now archaeologists are excavating where Metropolis once built, tracking past civilizations authoring the story of humanity reaching our days from ccnturies ago. The site has been excavated for the past 18 years by the Dokuz Eylül Uni-versity, İzmir under the guidance of Professor Recep Meriç. From 2007 Dr Serdar Aybek from The University of Trakya has taken over leadership of the excavation.