🏛️ Laodicea ad Mare
Ancient port city on Turkey's Mediterranean coast, now partially submerged
📌 Fast Facts
- Located in Hatay Province, southern Turkey, near the Syrian border
- Founded circa 300 BCE by Seleucus I Nicator; flourished as a major Mediterranean trading port
- Submerged beneath Lake Amuq following construction of a dam in 1973
- Accessible by boat during low-water periods; underwater archaeology ongoing
Laodicea ad Mare was one of the Seleucid Empire's principal port cities, strategically positioned on the Mediterranean coast of what is now southern Turkey. Founded in the early Hellenistic period, it served as a major commercial hub connecting the Eastern Mediterranean with inland Anatolia and Syria. The city remained significant under Roman and Byzantine rule before declining in the medieval period ...