Amos Ancient City

The town of Turunç within Marmaris County is situated on a hill above the ancient city of Amos, Hisar Cape, one of the major settlements of the opposite shore of Rhodes in the Kumlubük Locality. Excavations have not been done in Amos so far. You access to Amos via Turunç. You can go to Turunç by your own car or taking minibuses from Marmaris Bus Terminal. After reaching Turunç, you can access by taxi to the Ancient City of Amos and the Amos Beach, which entered the world list. The taste of the visits on boat will certainly be distinct.

The perimeter of the hill where the city is located is surrounded by high walls of about two meters thick and 4 m height built in polygonal technique. Towers and the northern gate of the Hellenistic city walls are well preserved. In the west of the Acropolis are seen ruins of the Temple of Apollon.

Amos is one of the three locations having a theatre along with Sedir Island and Kastabos within Peraia of Rhodes (Opposite Site). The theatre can be reached beyond two city walls. Sited on the hillside 88meters above the sea level, the single stage bears features of the Hellenistic period. The theatre in Amos is smaller and in better condition compared to others. Some of the rows of seats and analemma walls at 5.18 m height are partially preserved. The orchestra is quite well-preserved and stage building of this theater consists of three parts. It is known that there is an altar composed of two pieces in the orchestra which describes offering of victims to Dionysos before each ceremony. There are 20 straight row seatings. The stage building is a rectangular with the size of 20 feet to 40 feet. Stage building height should be close to 14 feet. The theatre is approximately for 1,300 people.

On a small terrace on the northern slope of the hill, four inscriptions were found in 1948 by George E. Bean, who was doing the first research about the city. The inscriptions include the 3 land contract conditions published in 200 BC. These contracts are very detailed. They include instructions on payment of the rent, provision of a guarantor and development of the land. Tenants have to build at least one hut, cultivate a vineyard, plant fig trees and create the space to grow grains. Failing to fulfill these instructions is punished with fines. The inscription also includes the articles not to be done by tenants. Criminal procedure applies in case of cutting of the trees in the area and carrying to the public land and burying the dead in the land.

It is clear that the region's main agricultural products include grapes and figs. In addition, a certain amount of grain is grown. Amos lease agreements show that the Rhodes administration introduced an arrangement for more efficient use of the lands in the city in the later 3rd century or early 2nd century BC, as pointed out by Aeskhines. The said fertile lands are likely to be located on the plain upon which today's Gölenye village is settled. According to the inscriptions found in the city, it can be considered that an agricultural organization was launched by the Rhodes administration at the beginning of the 2nd century BC.

According to the works carried out by George E. Bean in the region (1948), it seems from the lease agreements and the inscriptions from the same terrace dating back to around 200 BC that the people of Amos worshipped to Apollon under the name of “Apollo Samnaios”. Coexistence of the two contrasting cults of Dionysos and Apollon indicates that Amos is a typical Karian city above all.

The city's location was conducted in a safe manner thanks to the numerous inscriptions found in Hisarönü. It is suspected that the name of the settlement is associated with the word “ἄμμος” meaning “sand” in the Hellenic language.

On the hill with the settlement, there is the theater, temple, cistern, building terraces and statue bases of monuments. On the lower slopes of the hill surrounded by walls are seen different types of tombs specific to the region.

The perimeter of the hill where the city was established is surrounded by polygonal walls that are approximately four meters high and two meters thick forming regular rows at some locations. Towers and the north gate of the defensive walls of the Hellenistic period are well preserved. The walls surrounding the city which was continuously inhabited from the Hellenistic period to the Byzantine period were restored in different periods. Here what attracts attention is that the polygonal walls were repaired with isodome technique creating neat rows in the subsequent repairs.

With the Supreme Council of Real Estate Antiquities and Monuments decision dated 10.14.1978 numbered A-1362, Amos was registered as the 1st Degree Archaeological Site.

In 2011, landscaping of the Ancient City of Amos and routeing works were carried out with the initiative of Marmaris Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with the Museum Directorate. With its terraces, appropriate fields for taking photos and informative signs, Amos is attracting a lot of visitors to the ancient city.