About our rating systemConstructed during the rule of Alexander the Great, the Agora is today mostly in ruins, and you'll have to walk up through a neighborhood also in ruins to get there. (Call ahead to make sure it's open, and take a taxi.) After an earthquake devastated the original in A.D. 178, Faustina, wife of Marcus Aurelius, had the Agora rebuilt. Later, Byzantines and Ottomans both used the space above it as a cemetery, leaving the ancient remains undisturbed and as a result one of the best-preserved Ionian agoras. The open-air museum -- impressive at about 120m*78m (394 ft.*256 ft.) -- contains the remains of three of the four main gates, some recognizable stalls, and a three-sided perimeter of porticos. Excavations of a monumental gated entrance to the Agora uncovered a treasure of statues of Greek gods and goddesses, along with more mundane figures of people and animals. More recent excavations of the Roman basilica have brought to light graffiti and drawings (in the basement), plus inscriptions of the people who provided aid after the earthquake of A.D. 178.
