🏛️ Amorion-Laodicea Katakekaumene Combusta
Ruined Byzantine fortress and Hellenistic city in central Anatolia
📌 Fast Facts
- Located near Şuhut in Afyonkarahisar Province, Türkiye
- Dual-site archaeology: Byzantine fortress (Amorion) overlying Hellenistic settlement (Laodicea Katakekaumene)
- Amorion was a major Byzantine military stronghold until destroyed by Arab forces in 838 CE
- Extensive excavations conducted by Koç University since 2007
This archaeological site comprises two chronologically distinct settlements layered across the same terrain in central Anatolia. The lower Hellenistic city of Laodicea Katakekaumene ("burnt" Laodicea, named for nearby volcanic features) flourished during the Seleucid period. The Byzantine fortress of Amorion, built atop or adjacent to the earlier city, became one of the empire's most strategically important military installations until its capture and destruction by the Abbasid Caliph ...