Posted by This is a photo I took back in October 2012 when I visited Izmir.
Agora means meeting place, city square, marketplace or bazaar. In the ancient times, Agora was known not only with its commercial, political and religious functions but
with its art activities and social events.
There were two agoras in the big cities. One of them was the state agora where the state affairs were held. The public buildings were mostly located around this state agora. The other one was the commercial agora where commercial activities were concentrated. The agora in İzmir located on Namazgâh street was state agora.
Most of the ruins of Agora which was established in the 4th century B.C. after the big earthquake in 178 B.C by the support of Emperor Marcus Aurelius belong to Roman
Period agora.
Smyrna was planned in accordance with the Hippodamian system where the streets of the city intersect each other. That’s why one of its parallel avenues in the directions of east and west was intersecting agora. There is a magnificent gate at the point where the avenue, dividing the agora probably in two equal parts, enters the agora in
the west. At the center of the northern arch of the gate, which is thought to have two sections, is the portrait relief of Faustina, the wife of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius.
(Source: İzmir Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism)