Laodikya draws thousands of visitors

More than 100,000 people have visited the ancient city of Laodikya, one of the largest metropolis in Anatolia in the Aegean province of Denizli, according to reports.

Denizli Mayor Osman Zolan said tourists visiting the ancient city showed great interest in the ancient site and added that the ancient city had received almost no visitors before 2008 but had drawn 110,000 visitors since the beginning of 2011.

“Historic artworks that have been recently unearthed and the improvement of lightning, excavations, security system and transportation have made Laodikya very popular in the world. The ancient city has so many feature that it could be shown as candidate for the UNESCO World Heritage List in a near future. It is also very attractive in terms of faith tourism.”

Zolan said the cultural artifacts unearthed in the ancient city had drawn attention to the area. “The city was visited by significant guests including the Fener Greek Patriarch and the Malaysian tourism minister.”

He said 58,000 tourists visited Laodikya in 2008 but that 78,000 visited in 2010. “This place is as big as the ancient city of Ephesus. One of the seven churches mentioned in the Bible is here. Also, the biggest stadium in Anatolia is here. We expect at least 10 million visitors to the ancient city within the next 10 years.”