Three possible public spaces and several wall paintings have been uncovered at Smyrna, an ancient Greek city on Anatolia’s Aegean coastline, according to Archaeology Magazine’s report on findings by researchers led by Akin Ersoy of İzmir Katip Celebi University.
The spaces were identified in the city’s agora and date to the fifth and sixth centuries A.D. Two contain mosaic floors, while the third has a marble floor. The discovery adds new evidence about the design and decoration of these areas, although the spaces have been described as possible public spaces rather than definitively identified buildings.
Wall paintings were also found in both the agora and the theater. Ersoy said this was the first time his team had found wall paintings in these spaces, adding that comparable examples had not previously been encountered in Smyrna’s agora or around the theater.
The findings indicate that painted wall decoration was present in parts of Smyrna’s civic and theatrical settings during the period represented by the newly uncovered remains. The source does not identify the subjects of the paintings or establish the specific functions of the three spaces.
