Sagalassos is an archaeological site in southwestern Turkey,
about 100 km north of Antalya (ancient Attaleia), and 30 km from
Burdur and Isparta. The ancient ruins of Sagalassos are 7 km
from Aglasun in the province of Burdur, on Mount Akdag, in the
Western Toros mountain range, at an altitude of 1450-1700
metres. In Roman Imperial times, the town was known as the
'first city of Pisidia', a region in the western Taurus
mountains, currently known as the Turkish Lakes Region. Already
during the Hellenistic period, it had been one of the major
Pisidian towns. The urban site was laid out on various terraces
at an altitude between 1400 and 1600 m. After having suffered
from a major earthquake in the early sixth century CE, the town
still managed to recover, but a cocktail of epidemics, water
shortages, a general lack of security and stability, a failing
economy and finally another devastating earthquake around the
middle of the seventh century forced the inhabitants to abandon
their town and resettle in the valley