Great Colonnade At Apamea

The Great Colonnade at Apamea was the main colonnaded avenue of the ancient city of Apamea in the Orontes River valley in northwestern Syria. Originally a seleucid colonnade, it was rebuilt in the second century CE after Apamea's devastation in the 115 earthquake. The avenue, which runs for nearly , made up the city's north-south axis, or the ''cardo maximus''. The monumental colonnade is among the longest and most famous in the Roman world.

Overview

The original Hellenistic colonnade was devastated, along with the rest of Apamea, in the 115 earthquake. Reconstruction started immediately under the Romans, and over the course of the second century the city was completely rebuilt, starting with the Great Colonnade.

The colonnade was aligned along the north-south axis, making up the city's ''cardo maximus'' under the Romans. Starting at the city's north gate, the colonnade ran in an uninterrupted straight line for almost to the south gate. The northern third of the colonnade's stretch is marked by a monumental votive column that stood opposite the baths.Foss, 1997, p. 207. The southern third, at around , is marked by the intersection with the city's main east-west axis, or the ''decumanus maximus''. Two triple arches were built into the Great Colonnade as part of the intersection. The colonnade was further intersected by side streets at regular intervals of .Foss, 1997, p. 210. The colonnade passed through the center of the city and several important buildings were clustered around it, including the baths, the agora, the Temple of Tyche, the nymphaeum, the rotunda, the atrium church and the basilica.Foss, 1997, p. 208-211.

The street within the colonnade was wide and paved with large polygonal limestone blocks. On either side of the street a wide colonnade ran its full length. The columns were high and in diameter. They stood on square bases of on a side and high. The columns display two main designs: a plain one, and the distinctive spiral-flutes. Archaeologist Jean Lassus argues that the former dates back to the Trajanic period, while the latter to that of Antoninus Pius.Crawford; Goodway, 1990, p. 119. The colonnade's porticoes were paved with extensive mosaics along the full stretch of the colonnade.

Under the Byzantine Emperor, Justinian I, several parts of the colonnade were restored. A new drainage system was installed and covered by the street, which in turn was narrowed to by adding a sidewalk on either side. Several stretches of the street had their Roman pavement replaced with a new pavement made of squared blocks of limestone. The new pavement also covered a completely overhauled drainage system. Justinian's changes included erecting a monumental '' tetrastylon'' made up of four high columns with capitals that were one metre tall.Foss, 1997, p. 208. The city, was however, later sacked by the Sasanians under Adarmahan..

Gallery

File:Apamée - chapiteaux.JPG, Details of the capitals of the colonnade's columns
File:Apamea_22_-_Twisted_fluted_columns.jpg, Columns decorated with the distinctive spiral-flutes
Apamea 01.jpg, Overview of the colonnade.
File:Apamea colonnaded street votive column 8454.jpg, The votive column standing opposite the baths
File:Great Colonnade at Apamea, Facade with columns, Apamea, Syria.jpg, Facade and columns
File:Musée Cinquantenaire Colonnade Apamée.jpg, A reconstruction of a section of the colonnade at the Cinquantenaire Museum in Brussels, Belgium

See also

*Roman Theatre at Apamea
*Great Colonnade at Palmyra

Sources

Notes

Bibliography

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Apamea, Syria
Colonnades
Ancient Roman buildings and structures in Syria
Buildings and structures completed in the 2nd century
Streets in Syria