Laodicea

Laodicea on the Lycus, also known as Laodicea ad Lycum, is an ancient city in western Anatolia. It stood in the region of Phrygia Pacatiana, on the Lycus River between Colossae and Hierapolis, near present-day Denizli Province in Turkey. The city was named for Laodice, a Seleucid queen, and developed as a Hellenistic urban center that benefited from its position along regional trade routes.

Under Roman rule Laodicea grew into a wealthy metropolitan center. It was renowned for its textile industry, especially black wool, as well as banking and medical goods, including an ophthalmic preparation that was widely reputed in antiquity. The city minted its own coins and possessed elaborate public buildings. In late antiquity it remained a major urban center in the province of Asia and later flourished within the Byzantine sphere.

Laodicea is notable in Christian history for its early Christian community and as one of the churches addressed in the New Testament book of Revelation, where it is described as spiritually lukewarm. An apocryphal letter titled Epistle to the Laodiceans is sometimes associated with the city, but it is not part of the canonical Bible.

The archaeological site preserves extensive remains from Hellenistic to Late Antique periods, including a large theater, a gymnasium complex, a stadium, baths, a colonnaded street, and a substantial water supply system. The city’s aqueducts drew water from nearby springs, and by ancient accounts the water arriving at Laodicea was lukewarm, a detail often linked to the Revelation text.

Today, the site is a focus of Turkish archaeology and heritage, with ongoing excavations and public interest in its monuments and history.