Ephesus Tours
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Private Day Tours
    • Istanbul Tours
      • Full Day Bosphorus Tours
      • Istanbul by Night: Turkish Dinner and Show
      • Half Day Classical Istanbul Tours
      • Full Day Private Istanbul Tours
      • Half Day Topkapi Palace Tours
      • Half Day Dolmabahce Palace Tours
      • Half Day Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace Tours
      • Istanbul Tours for Disabled
      • Half Day Istanbul Archeology Tours
      • Jewish Heritage Tours in Istanbul
      • Istanbul Shopping Tours
    • Ephesus Tours
      • Ephesus Tours From Izmir Port
      • Half Day Ephesus Tours
      • Full Day Ephesus Tours
      • Deluxe Half Day Ephesus Tours
      • Deluxe Full Day Ephesus Tours
      • Ephesus Tours From Istanbul
      • Ephesus and House of Virgin Mary Tours
      • Ephesus Tours for Disabled
      • Ephesus and Terrace Houses Tours
      • Ephesus and Kirazli Village Tours
      • Ephesus Tours From Cappadocia
      • Ephesus Tours From Antalya
      • Tandem Sky Diving at Ephesus
      • Microflight Tour Over Ephesus
      • Ephesus and Sirince Village Tours
      • Ephesus Tours From Kusadasi
      • Taxi from Kusadasi port to Ephesus
      • We Guarantee the Lowest Price on Private Ephesus Tours!
    • Cappadocia Tours
      • Cappadocia Hot Air Balloon Tours
      • North Cappadocia Tours and Goreme Museum
      • South Cappadocia and Kaymakli Underground City Tours
      • Whirling Dervishes Ceremony in Cappadocia
      • Turkish Night Entertainment Show in Cappadocia
      • Cappadocia Tours From Istanbul
      • Cappadocia Turkish Bath (Hammam)
      • Cappadocia Horse Riding Tours
      • Cappadocia Trekking Tours
      • Nemrut Tours From Cappadocia
      • Cappadocia Mountain Biking Tours
      • Ihlara Canyon and Derinkuyu Underground City tours
    • Biblical Tours in Turkey
      • In The Footsteps of St Paul
      • Seven Churches of Revelation Tours
      • Jewish Heritage Tour in Turkey
      • Seven Churches and St. Nicholas
      • Early Churches of St. Paul and St. John
      • Seven Churches and Cave of Abraham
  • Private DMC
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • Sitemap
Ephesus Tours Istanbul Tours Cappadocia Tours Biblical Tours Kusadasi Transfers

Colossae Honaz

Home → Biblical Sites in Turkey → Colossae Honaz

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
please wait...
Rating: 5.0/5 (1382 votes cast)

Colossae Honaz  (Honaz) is a town and a district of Denizli Province in the Aegean Region. It covers an area of 504 km2.

Honaz is about 20 km east of the city of Denizli on the slopes of the mountain of the same name – Mount Honaz. The mountain is the highest peak in Turkey’s Aegean Region (2517 m). Just north of Honaz is Honaz Stream, known in ancient times as the Lycus.

In antiquity it was known as Colossae. At 500 BC Colossae was founded by the Phrygians, and then passed into the hands of the Ancient Greeks. Herodotus and Xenophon both record the passage of Greek and Persian armies though here during the Persian Wars, at that time it was a large Phrygian city. A few ruins of the ancient city remain. Like many other ancient cities of the region, Colossae was destroyed by earthquakes, with little surviving.

In the Byzantine period its name was Chonai. The city and a bishopric of Chonai was established at the location of the present Honaz township by the Byzantines during the Arab invasions of the 7th century. Being further up the mountain the location was easier to defend. Following centuries of Byzantine rule the town was first captured by the Seljuk Turks in 1070, but was then reconquered during the Komnenian period. During the reign of Manuel I Komnenos it prospered as a frontier town, a trading and pilgrimage venue for both Christians and Muslims. The Byzantine chronicler Niketas Choniates (c. 1155-1215/1216) was a native of the city. Chonai was plundered twice by local independent warlords backed by the Turks (by Theodoros Mankaphas in late 1180s and by Pseudo-Alexios in 1192). It finally fell to the Seljuks soon afterwards. Kaykhusraw I promised to return it to the Byzantines, but in view of the collapse of imperial power caused by the Fourth Crusade and the Latin conquest of Constantinople he decided rather to assign it to his father-in-law, the Byzantine renegade Manuel Maurozomes. The latter held it as an autonomous lordship together with Laodikeia, near present-day Denizli, from 1205 until his death ca. 1230. Theodore I Laskaris came to accept it in a 1206 agreement with Kaykhusraw I.

There is a Seljuk fortress in Honaz, and the Murat Mosque which dates back to the reign of Ottoman Sultan Murat II (imperabat 1404-1451).

Today the economy of Honaz is centred on growing cherries, 80% of the crop being exported from Turkey, generating up to 35 million dollars of income per annum. There is an annual cherry festival in the town. Tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables are grown too including a local variety of oleaster.

Honaz is also the homeland of a number of well-known pehlivans (oil wrestlers) including the 3-time national champion Hüseyin Çokal.

colossae-honaz

In the nearby depending township of Kaklık, there is a large cave called ” Kaklık Cave” or “Kaklık Mağarası” which attracts visitors from all over the country. A spring that spurts out on the surface only to flow back underground shortly afterwards through the cave in cascading layers of limestone and travertine caused Kaklık to appear very much like a subterranean Pamukkale.

Kaklik Cave was created by an underground stream eating away the limestone and sulphurous rock of the region.

Kaklik Cave was created by an underground stream eating away the limestone and sulphurous rock of the region.

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: +1399 (from 1399 votes)
Colossae Honaz, 100% based on 1399 ratings
By Apollo on October 6, 1998   /   Biblical Sites in Turkey, Turkey Travel Blogs   /   Leave a comment
Tags: Colossae, Honaz, kaklik cave
Add New Reviews
Click here to cancel reply.

Travel Turkey / Blog

  • Ancient Cities of Turkey
  • Biblical Sites in Turkey
  • Biblical Turkey
  • Byzantine & Ottoman Relics
  • Cappadocia
  • Churches in Turkey
  • Cities in Turkey
  • Gallipoli
  • Istanbul
  • Map of Turkey
  • Mosques in Turkey
  • Must-See Places in Turkey
  • Turkey Travel Blogs
ephesus tours

The big tip is to try and go completely private. Many of the large tour companies offer private tour and they are going to charge a significant amount of money for the tour guide. However, many locations offer self-guided tours and therefore you have the ability to supply your own tour guide. Easily Book your guided private Ephesus tours, to see all the treasures of Ephesus Turkey. It's often said that Turkey has more ancient cities and classical ruins than does Greece. Well, it's true, and the Aegean coast holds a great number of sites, including Ephesus, the grandest and best-preserved of them all.

ephesustoursguide.com © 2013-2017 All Rights Reserved
Back to Top