Geoffrey & Françoise Summers

Military Installations

Inside and to the south-west of the "Cappadocia Gate" is a large walled off area containing a substantial flat empty space and a number of structures. The aspect of the area and the plans of the structures, so far as they can be determined, do not find obvious parallels elsewhere in the city. The strategic location, with a commanding view over the Cappadocian Plain, adjacent to the palace and at the nub of the network of city streets, suggests that the function was military. The evidence of surface observation and geomagnetic planning suggests that some or all of these structures were abandoned before they had been completed, but this tentative conclusion will need to be tested by controlled excavation.

On the slopes above and to the north-east of the Suluk Göl, opposite the palace, is a large flat area, nick-named the "polo field", and a long narrow structure with square buildings at either end. Above this is a complex of long narrow structures. A test trench across these features provided evidence which, although not conclusive, supports the hypothesis that these were imperial stables. Burnt mud plaster on wall faces shows that these buildings were standing at the time of their destruction, presumably at the same time as the rest of the city was burnt by Croesus.

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