Sagalassos is an ancient city, about 100 km north of ancient Attaleia, now modern Antalya on the road to Burdur and Isparta. The nearest town to Sagalassos is modern Ağlasun, as sleepy mountain town at the height of 1450–1700m. During the Roman Empire, the town was the capital of Pisidia and ancient kingdom in the Taurus mountains around the area now known as the 'Turkish Lake District'.
The city was built on various terraces ranging from 1450 to 1650 m.
Major excavations were begun in 1990 undertaken by the Leuven Katholieke Universiteit. and many of the major buildings have been unearthed and reconstructed.
Habitation in the area reaches to 8000 BC, well before the present situation was occupied. The Hittites referred to mountainous Salawassa in the 14th Century BC and the town expanded during the times of the Phrygian and Lydian rule, maintaining its own Psidian culture, and were known as warlike people during the Persian age.
Conquered by Alexander in 333BC, it was a very wealthy town, worthy of Alexander's efforts, having a population of several thousand, and rapidly took Hellenistic culture to heart.
Absorbed into the Roman empire as part of Asia Province, it was much favoured by Hadrian when he visited the area and became both regional capital and home of an Imperial Temple, the Roman period saw great expansion and regeneration.
Later in The Roman Empire as times were getting more unsure, the site was fortified, but a serious of earthquakes and the Arab raids saw the town effectively abandoned, with the result that there are few Byzantine buildings, apart from a monastic complex.
The difficult location of Sagalassos saved the fallen city from much looting, or gathering of stone for more modern building.
