The Lycus Valley in western Turkey was home to three cities of the New Testament: Laodicea, Hierapolis and Colossae. Laodicea ancient city lies about 6 kilometers north of the city of Denizli, and its excavated ruins are open to visitors. It was a rich Roman city of bankers, black wool and doctors, and the home of the last of the Seven Churches of Revelation, the church called “lukewarm” in Revelation 3:14-22.
Laodicea is a good example of a Hellenistic city. Today town is still hosting The Church of Laodicea, which the archaeologists found in 2010. Let’s have a look at the history of the city, its famous water, the ruins you can see today and the letter that Saint John wrote to its church.
The Laodicean church was the Christian community of ancient Laodicea, one of the seven churches of Revelation. The church of Laodicea is located today in Denizli Province, western Turkey, as an excavated ruin inside the ancient city, a short drive from Pamukkale.
| Where | Denizli Province, Lycus Valley, western Turkey |
|---|---|
| Founded | Mid-3rd century BC, by the Seleucid king Antiochus II |
| Great church | 4th century AD, found in 2010 |
| In Revelation | The last of the seven churches |
| Heritage status | UNESCO Tentative List since 2013 |
History of Laodicea
Laodicea was built by the Seleucid King Antiochus the Second in the middle of the 3rd century BC. Laodicea city was founded by Antiochus the second in the name of his beloved wife Laodike who was his wife and the queen. There was a smaller settlement here before him, which the Roman writer Pliny calls first Diospolis and then Rhoas.
By the way, this love story did not end well. A few years later Antiochus divorced Laodike to marry Berenice, a princess from Egypt, as part of a peace treaty. He went back to Laodike in the end, but in 246 BC he died suddenly, and many people accused her of poisoning him.
In 133 BC Attalus III, the last king of Pergamon, left his kingdom to Rome. Eventually, in the year 129 BC, the entire region of west Turkey including Laodicea became a part of the Roman province of Asia.
The city stood by the Lycus River, on the main trade road between the Aegean coast and the interior of Anatolia, about 160 kilometers east of Ephesus. Hierapolis was about 10 kilometers to the north and Colossae about 15 kilometers to the east. Under the first Roman emperors, Laodicea became one of the most important trade cities of Asia Minor.
By the standards of Asia Minor, Laodicea was a young city. Ephesus and Sardis were already old and famous when it was founded. Its builders chose a long hill between two small rivers, the Asopus and the Caprus, which flow down into the Lycus.
This place was a real crossroads. Besides the main road from the Aegean to the east, road from Pergamon down to Pisidia and Pamphylia also passed through the city. Strabo writes that Laodicea had been a small town, and that it grew large in his own time and in the time of his father.
Earthquakes hit the city many times, and in the 12th century the Byzantine city suffered in the wars with the Seljuk Turks. In the end Laodicea was abandoned, and its people were resettled in Denizli during the Seljuk period. The old Turkish name of the place, Lâdik, also comes from Laodicea.
The Wealth of Laodicea
To understand the letter to the Laodiceans, you need to know one thing first: this was a very rich city, and large money transactions were made here. When Cicero, the famous Roman orator, was governor of Cilicia in 51–50 BC, he held court sessions in Laodicea. In a letter of 51 BC he writes that he will stay a few days in Laodicea to collect money owed to him by a public bill of exchange.
The second source of money was wool. The Greek geographer Strabo, who wrote in the time of Emperor Augustus, says that the sheep around Laodicea gave a very soft wool, softer even than the wool of Miletus, and that its color was “raven-black”. The Laodiceans earned a splendid income from it.
The wool did not leave the city raw. Laodicean workshops wove it into cloaks and tunics of several kinds, for the home market and for export. One kind of tunic, called the trimita, became so famous that some later church lists call the city Laodicea Trimitaria.
The third was medicine. Strabo tells us about a big school of medicine at the temple of the god Men Karou, between Laodicea and Carura. Later, Galen, the most famous doctor of antiquity, describes an eye remedy made from a “Phrygian stone”. In 1904 the scholar William Ramsay suggested that this was the eye salve of the letter, made in Laodicea.
It is a good idea, but no ancient writer says that the medicine was made here, and Galen did not discover it either: he lived about a century after the Book of Revelation. No remains related to the workshop or hospital where this drug was made have been found so far.
By the way, the Greek word for the salve in the letter is kollourion. The Latin word collyrium comes from the same Greek word, and doctors used it for eye lotions for centuries.
Then came the earthquake of 60 AD. The Roman historian Tacitus wrote that Laodicea, “one of the famous cities of Asia”, was overthrown that year and “without any relief from us, recovered itself by its own resources”. When an earthquake destroyed twelve cities of Asia in 17 AD, Sardis and Philadelphia among them, Emperor Tiberius had helped them with money and tax relief. Laodicea did not need Rome.
Please keep this pride in your mind when you read the letter to its church: “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.'”
Water of Laodicea
Laodicea had one weak point, and it was water. The city had to bring its drinking water from outside. An aqueduct carried it from springs about 8 kilometers to the south, at Başpınar in today’s Denizli. The water was rich in lime. Even Strabo noticed it: he writes that the water of the rivers at Laodicea turns into stone, “although their water is potable”.
Last part of the aqueduct worked as a siphon. The water ran down a hill and up again into the city inside twin pipes made of hollow travertine blocks. At the edge of the city it reached two water distribution towers, and from there smaller pipes carried it to the fountains, baths and houses.
In Laodicea the lukewarm letter is not only a metaphor. I show people the pipe blocks laying beside the excavated streets, their holes half closed with a hard white crust of travertine. Then I point across the valley to the white terraces of Hierapolis, about 10 kilometers away.
For me, this is always the most moving moment of the visit. My guests can put a finger on that rough white crust, and the image of the letter becomes something you can touch.
The Laodiceans took their water very seriously. In 114 AD the city prepared a water law, and the proconsul approved it in the name of Emperor Trajan. Anyone who polluted the water, damaged the pipes or stole water for his own use had to pay between 5,000 and 12,500 denarii.
The marble block with this law was found in 2015, and I wrote about it on my article about the 2000 years old water use regulations found in Laodicea.
The Lukewarm Church of Laodicea
Here is the most famous explanation of the letter, and you will hear it at the site. The hot springs of Hierapolis were good for healing, and the cold water of Colossae was good for drinking. The water of Laodicea was neither. It arrived lukewarm after its long trip, and nobody wanted it.
This explanation became popular in 1958 with an article by two British scholars, M. J. S. Rudwick and E. M. B. Green. Their point is interesting. In this reading “hot” and “cold” are both good things: hot water heals and cold water refreshes. Lukewarm water does neither. So the problem of the church was not half faith. The church was useless, like its water.
However, the details do not hold. Laodicea never brought water from Hierapolis or Colossae, because its aqueduct came from the south. Recent studies also find no proof that its spring was a hot one, and the lime in the pipes does not mean that the water was bad to drink.
The New Testament scholar Craig Koester says that the image does not need the local water at all. Every city of Asia had similar water systems. At ancient dinners drinks were served hot or cold, so everybody knew that a lukewarm drink was something you want to spit out.
There is also an older reading, which many of my guests know. This is actually an analogy. Because Laodicean people are not literally devoted Christians (hot) or real pagans (cold). They were in between, they were lukewarm. I tell my guests all of these explanations and let them decide.
Excavations of Laodicea
For most of the modern era, Laodicea was much less excavated than its neighbor Hierapolis, where Italian archaeologists have been working since 1957. Colossae waited even longer, and its first excavation began only in 2025. Laodicea was known and partly mapped, but most of the city was still under the ground.
Laodicea excavations, which started in 2002 transformed Laodicea into a very rich open-air museum and a living archeology park thanks to the teams working with great devotion. The first dig on Syria Street was made under the Denizli Museum, and since 2003 the work has been a project of Pamukkale University, led by Professor Celal Şimşek.
Various temples including Laodicea Church, necropolis areas surrounding the ancient city, Peristyle houses, Latrina, churches, and monumental streets were unearthed Laodikeia excavations. UNESCO lists six churches and a house church in the city. In 2013 Laodicea was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List of Turkey.
The city still surprises the archaeologists. In 2024 they found a group of statues showing the sea monster Skylla, and in April 2026 a 2-meter marble statue of Athena came out of the stage building of the West Theater.
Things to See in Laodicea
North Theater
Laodicea has two theaters. The North Theater is the bigger one. It was built in the Roman architectural style contrary to the Greek theater-type in the 2nd century AD, and it faces northeast. Its scene has been completely destroyed but its orchestra section is preserved in very good condition. According to the excavation team, it had about 12,000 seats.
West Theater
The West Theater is older. It goes back to the Hellenistic period, and it was built in accordance with the Greek theater style because of the terrain underneath it, cut into the slope of the hill. The excavation team gives about 8,000 seats for it, although other numbers appear in the news. It was restored and opened again with a concert of the İzmir State Symphony Orchestra in May 2022.
Syria Street
Syria Street was the main colonnaded street of the city. The section from the Syrian gate to the Eastern Byzantine gate is about 500 meters long and has not been fully excavated yet. The section from the Eastern Byzantine gate to the Caracalla Fountain is 400 meters long and has been completely unearthed.
Stadium and Gymnasium
The stadium and Gymnasium of Laodicea lie southwest of the city. These two structures of the stadium and the gymnasium were built to form a unity. The stadium is 285 meters long and 70 meters wide. The building, which was built in a form similar to an amphitheater, has rounded ends on both sides. Most of it has been destroyed.
It could hold 20,000 to 25,000 spectators. An inscription says that a local man called Nicostratus built it in 79 AD and dedicated it to Emperor Titus.
Monumental Fountain
Monumental Fountain is located on the corner of the main street. It is a Roman period structure. It was repaired during the Byzantine period. Laodicea had several of these nymphaea, and the water law I mentioned above was found infront of the one built for Emperor Trajan.
Parliament Building
Parliament Building is a monumental building, which has a rectangular plan, extends in the east-west direction. The main entrance is on the east side. In 2025 the excavators also announced a unique assembly building with five-sided walls from the late 1st century BC, with seats for 600 to 800 people.
Central Agora and Bath Structure
The rectangular planned structure was named the Central Agora because it is located in the center of the city. The central agora is located on Syria street. In the center of the agora, a column was placed in the Early Byzantine Period.
Temple A and the Temple of Zeus
One of the temples of the city is called Temple A by the archaeologists. It stands on the north side of Syria Street, and its finds point both to the gods and to the cult of the Roman emperors. The Temple of Zeus stood inside the North Agora, also called the Sacred Agora, and it was taken down in the time of Constantine. By the way, the old name Diospolis means the city of Zeus.
The Great Church of Laodicea
The great church of Laodicea was built adjacent to the street in the south of the colonnaded street. Only a part of the carrier sections remained standing. It would not be wrong to say that the Great Church of Laodicea is the most important building Laodicea ancient city.
The church was found in 2010, then excavated and restored. Later it was covered with a modern roof and made safely observable thanks to a glass walkway. Its stones were put back in their places, and this work received a Special Mention in the European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards of 2016.
The church was built during the Great Constantinus’ rule, soon after the Milan Decree of 313 finally allowed Christians freely practice their religion, and it was used until the 7th century. In this respect, it is one of the early sacred structures of the Christian world. Look for its mosaic floors and its baptistery with a cross-shaped font.
Council of Laodicea
About 300 years after the letter, the church of Laodicea hosted a church council of its own. It met around 363–364 AD, although the exact year is uncertain, and about thirty clergymen from Asia Minor took part. In the 12th century the Byzantine writers Zonaras and Balsamon wrote commentaries on its laws.
The principal concerns of the council concerned regulating the conduct of church members. The council expressed its decrees in the form of written rules or laws. At the meeting, 60 laws in total were decided and written, and in 692 the Council in Trullo in Constantinople confirmed them for the church of the East.
Some of them are interesting today too. Canon 29 told Christians not to rest on Saturday like the Jews but to honor the Lord’s Day. The 60th canon gives a list of the books of the Bible, and its New Testament leaves out the Book of Revelation, the very book that mentions Laodicea. However, this canon is missing from many manuscripts, and scholars think it was added later.
Laodicea and Christianity
The city had one of the famous Seven Churches of Asia Minor or better known as Seven Churches of the Revelation and became a religious center in the Early Byzantine Period. There was also a significant Jewish community in Laodicea. In 62 BC the Roman governor Flaccus seized a little over twenty pounds of gold here, which the Jews of the region had collected for the Temple in Jerusalem.
It is thought that the establishment of the church in this city may have happened when Apostle Paul had discussions on the Holy Bible and Christianity in Ephesus for two years in the meeting hall of Tyrannus. The Book of Acts says that in those years “all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord” (Acts 19:10).
Paul himself probably never came to Laodicea. In Colossians 2:1 he writes about the believers “at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally”. The man who did the work was most likely Epaphras of Colossae. Paul writes about him: “I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis” (Colossians 4:13).
So the three churches of the Lycus Valley were connected, and they were probably founded by the same man. In those years there were no church buildings yet: Paul sends greetings “to Nympha and the church in her house” (Colossians 4:15).
There is also a lost letter. At the end of Colossians, Paul asks that his letter be read in the church of the Laodiceans, and that the Colossians in turn read “the letter from Laodicea” (Colossians 4:16). That letter has not survived, and I find that loss fascinating.
A short Latin “Letter to the Laodiceans” exists in some old manuscripts, but it is a patchwork of phrases from Paul’s other letters, and scholars agree that it is a forgery. You can read more in my article on the letters of Paul to the cities in Asia Minor.
When the letter from Patmos arrived, the church of Laodicea was already some decades old. Many of its members had lived through the earthquake of 60 AD with the rest of the city, and they probably shared in the wealth of the rebuilt city too. It was a comfortable and successful church, this is exactly why the letter is so harsh.
Letter to Laodicean Church
Saint John wrote the Book of Revelation in exile on the island of Patmos, as I explain in my article on how John wrote Revelation on Patmos. The letter to Laodicea is the last of the seven letters. It comes right after the warm letter to the church of Philadelphia, and it is the only one with no word of praise.
Some people think that the seven cities were chosen for symbolic reasons. I am personally not convinced. I think the order is mostly geographical and it follows the road from one city to the next, as I explain in my article on the order of the seven churches. Still, it feels right that the last letter goes to the city which was most proud of its wealth. The seven letters end with a warning to a successful church.
“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’
But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
Revelation 3:14-22 (NIV). Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Now read the letter again with the city in mind. The rich bankers are told to buy “gold refined in the fire”. The city of fine black wool is told to buy “white clothes” to cover its nakedness. The city of doctors is told to buy “salve to put on your eyes, so you can see”. Every line uses the pride of Laodicea against it.
With the words about the eye salve, Jesus Christ addressed this church referring that Laodiceans had great earthly vision thanks to medicine but they were getting blind in seeing afterlife thanks to the spoiled attitude they had. The letter sent by Saint John the Evangelist to the church of Laodicea, which symbolizes the period of degeneration in the church chronology for some readers, is very important.
However, the letter is not only anger. “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline”, it says, and it ends with one of the most loved verses of the Bible: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock.” This is the verse on the stained glass window above.
Visiting Laodicea Today
Laodicea is so close to Hierapolis that it is easy to see both on the same day. The site belongs to the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism and is included in the MuseumPass Türkiye. Please check the current opening hours on the official muze.gov.tr site before you go.
Wear comfortable shoes. The site is large and the ground is uneven in places. The summer heat in the Lycus Valley can be fierce, so go early and bring water. Given their history with it, the Laodiceans would appreciate that. 😊
Allow at least three hours for the site, ideally a full morning. Laodicea has almost no shade, so spring and autumn are the best seasons. October is my favorite month here, when the air is cool and the cotton fields around the site are being harvested. For me, the soft smell of fresh-picked cotton is the smell of the Lycus Valley in late October.
For lunch, I recommend my guests to go up to Pamukkale, only about twenty minutes away by car. There are many small restaurants in the village. Try gözleme, a thin flatbread filled with cheese, spinach or potato and cooked on a hot iron plate, with a glass of ayran, the salty yogurt drink.
Laodicea is still a work in progress, and this is part of its appeal. You can see active archaeology here, with trenches and restorers putting columns back on their feet. I find it more interesting every time I go.
Syria Street is at its best on a quiet morning. The paving stones are warm in the sun, and the wind moves through the dry grass. To the north, across the valley, the white terraces of Pamukkale, ancient Hierapolis, shine in the morning light. To the east rises Mount Honaz, and ancient Colossae lay at its foot.
And here, in between, on this windy plateau with its stone pipes and broken columns, is Laodicea. It is a strange feeling to stand here. After the harsh words of the letter, the city is more impressive than you expect, and there is real grandeur in these stones. From this spot you understand why the story of the lukewarm city became so popular.
Stand in the stadium and try to picture it full of people from one of the richest cities of Asia Minor, and somewhere in that city a small community of Christians reading a letter that called them lukewarm. Whether they changed, the letter does not tell us. However, the church of Laodicea did not disappear: it had bishops for centuries, and in the 4th century it hosted a council.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Laodicea located today?
Laodicea is in Denizli Province in western Turkey, about 6 kilometers north of the city of Denizli, near the villages of Eskihisar, Goncalı and Bozburun. In Turkish the site is called Laodikeia, and its old Turkish name was Lâdik. Hierapolis and the white terraces of Pamukkale are about 10 kilometers to the north.
Why was the church of Laodicea called lukewarm?
In Revelation 3:15-16 Jesus says the church is “neither cold nor hot”. The church was rich and proud and said it needed nothing. A popular explanation connects the word with the city’s water, but scholars debate it. Many read “lukewarm” as useless and self-satisfied, like a drink that is neither hot nor cold.
Where did Laodicea get its water from?
Laodicea’s water came through an aqueduct from springs about 8 kilometers to the south, at Başpınar in today’s Denizli. The last part was a siphon of hollow travertine pipes, and the hard water left thick lime deposits inside them. The city did not get its water from Hierapolis or Colossae.
Does Laodicea still exist today?
Not as a living city. Laodicea was abandoned in the Middle Ages, and its people moved to nearby Denizli. Today it is an open-air archaeological site. Its 4th-century church has been excavated, restored and covered with a modern roof, and visitors can walk over glass walkways inside it.
Where is Laodicea on the map of the seven churches?
Laodicea is the seventh and last church on the Revelation list, and the one farthest east, in the Lycus Valley. All seven churches lay in western Turkey, and my post on the seven churches today shows where.
How far is Laodicea from Ephesus?
About 160 kilometers east of Ephesus. By road it is a long day trip, so I like to link it with Pamukkale and Hierapolis, which are close by.
Hire Biblical Tour Guide for Laodicea
Today the church of Laodicea is one of my favorite churches in Turkey. I understand the anger of Jesus Christ to this church when I interpret this letter. In my opinion, the Laodicea church and Letter in Revelation to Laodicea should still be a guide to us. The values and judgments of the Holy Bible are still valid today and will be in the future.
If you would like to visit Laodicea, Hierapolis and the other churches of Revelation with a licensed guide, you can hire me. You can see my guiding rates and guiding areas, or write to me through my contact page. For the bigger picture, read my introduction into the Seven Churches of Revelation and how the letters traveled between the seven churches.
I hope someday in the future we can visit this church and the ancient city of Laodikya with you. Contact me to learn more about Laodicea and to hire a professional, licensed tour guide to visit Laodicea Church from the Seven Churches of Asia Minor and the ancient city of Laodicea. See you soon, Hasan Gülday.
Can you give us some actual historic evidence of these springs, archeological evidence and even writing tying this interpretation to Revelation 3? By that I mean the water in Laodicea being lukewarm. You don’t cite anything on here.
There are actual pipes and fountains in Laodicea which proves having lukewarm waters in the city. Also similar lukewarm springs can be seen in Pamukkale (Hierapolis) today.