City
Laodicea
lay-AH-dih-SEE-uh · Modern Eskihisar, near Denizli, Turkey
Laodicea is a city of the biblical world, known today as Eskihisar, near Denizli, Turkey.
What is known
- One of the seven churches addressed in Revelation, famously rebuked as "lukewarm" — "neither cold nor hot" (Revelation 3:14-22)
- So wealthy that after a devastating AD 60 earthquake, the city rebuilt itself without imperial financial aid, unlike neighboring cities
- Recipient of a now-lost letter from Paul referenced in Colossians 4:16
History
- Founded
- Founded mid-3rd century BC by the Seleucid king Antiochus II
- Population
- Estimated 60,000–100,000 residents in the 1st century AD, one of the wealthiest cities in Phrygia
- Industry
- Banking, textiles (glossy black wool), and a renowned medical school producing eye salve
- Coordinates
- 37.8358° N, 29.1075° E
Archaeology
Continuously excavated since 2002, Laodicea has yielded two theatres, the largest stadium in Anatolia, five agoras, and colonnaded streets. A major 2010 discovery was a large 4th-century "Laodicean Church," tied to the church addressed in Revelation, though its identification as the specific congregation's meeting place is a scholarly inference rather than certainty.
Scripture references
- Colossians 2:1
- Colossians 4:13-16
- Revelation 3:14-22
On a modern map
Further reading
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