Magarsus Ancient Theater
Magarsus Ancient City is located in Dört Direkli locality, 4 km west of Karataş district, 49 km from Adana. It was founded in the 7th century BC. The name of the city is mentioned as Mallos in inscriptions, coins and other official documents belonging to the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods. According to Strabo, the city was founded by Mopsos of Cilicia and Amphilokhos of Greece after the Trojan War.
Magarsus, the religious center of Mallos, one of the important cities of ancient Cilicia, is known for its temples and is especially famous for the Temple of Athena, where Alexander the Great prayed.
In Magarsus, which has a grid-planned city design surrounded by walls, the ruins of which have survived from the Antiquity; city wall, Medieval Castle, Athena Magarsia Temple, theatre, stadium, cistern, Byzantine and Ottoman baths. The city has been an important settlement during the Ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine periods. Especially the Ancient Theater is among the important ruins of the city worth seeing.
