The significance of the agoras in social life and architectural arrangement in port settlements in the light of phaselis tetragonal agora

The ancient city of Phaselis, which is at the crossroads of the Lycian and Pamphylian regions, had been an important city in terms of both commodity volume and exported products since the Bronze Age. The settlement, which is located within the borders of Tekirova town of Kemer province, has a prominent place among the port cities of the region thanks to the area extending from Tahtalı Mountain and from there to Çandır Valley. In addition to its function as an intermediate port due to its location on the Eastern Mediterranean trade routes and its three convenient port areas, the city has a vibrant social life area where the products obtained from the mentioned territorium are marketed and the imported products are sold It has threeagoras aport frm the Hellenistic period agora, which is known to have host Alexander the Great.A possible Classical period agora can be expected on the acropolis area. The Tetragonal Agora, which is located at the key point of the building in the center of the city and which will be discussed in this study, was built by a charity called Tyndaris in the honor of the visit of Emperor Hadrian to Phaselis. In the thesis presented here, the historical and architectural development of the agora structures are examined in the Phaselis Tetragonal Agora and the importance and place of the social life in the port cities that host a lively commercial life such as Phaselis are emphasized. In doing so, other agora structures in the city as well as the nearby agoras in the regional cities were also examined. As mentioned in the dedication inscription on the Entrance Gate, studies were carried out for the purpose of naming the structure as la Tetragonal Agora m and in the search for answers, it was tried to determine the directions separated from the other agoraar by comparing it with the other agora. At the same time, the restitution plan of the Phaselis Tetragonal Agora was removed and the architectural arrangement was tried to put forward. It was initiated by H. Schläger in 1968 and was archaeologically defined and planed during the works carried out by J. Schäfer in 1969. During the excavations carried out under the direction of C. Bayburluoğlu between 1981-1985, cleaning and excavation work was carried out. In this study, the results obtained from these two studies are examined and archaeological materials from the excavations were included in the study and presented as plates at the end of the thesis.