By Muharrem Cin
KUTAHYA, Turkey (AA) – The ancient city of Aizanoi in western Turkey is looking to be added to the country’s other historical treasures featured on UNESCO's World Heritage List.
The Roman Era city was added to UNESCO’s tentative World Heritage list in 2012.
Located in the western province of Kutahya, the city, dating back to 3000 B.C., attracts some 60,000 tourists from Turkey and abroad every year.
“The city has a temple to Zeus which is the best-preserved temple in all of Anatolia, ” Muammer Ozer, a top local state tourism official, told Anadolu Agency.
Aizanoi, one of the most significant Roman Era cities of the time, has a colosseum with a capacity for 13,500 people and a theatre that can seat 20,000 people next to the temple, Ozer said.
The ancient city of Aizanoi — which thrived along with ancient cities like Ephesus and Pergamon near the Aegean province of Izmir and Side in the Mediterranean province of Antalya — is also called the “Second Ephesus,” Ozer added.
“The Temple of Zeus, situated upon a hill, was the city's main sanctuary. There is an area covered with vaults under the temple, ” according to UNESCO's website for the World Heritage List hopeful.
“One of the first stock exchange markets of the world was established in Aizanoi, ” the website added.
