Five years of field research confirmed that Metropolis was a major city of the Hellenistic Age (300-30 BC), which had stamped its mark on future civilisation. This was a golden age of scholarship, art and architecture, producing such spectacular masterpieces as the Temple of Zeus at Pergamon.

THE THEATRE AWAITS ITS GUESTS
This rare example of a surviving Hellenistic city in Anatolia did not have to wait long to see the light of day again. Professor Meriç and his team commenced excavations in 1989, at the spot where the ancient theatre was thought to lie. As work progressed their excitement rose, until finally the marble paving of the orchestra (the part of the theatre where the chorus and actors performed) was revealed at a depth of four metres. The steep gradient combined with the superimposed layers of later construction all made excavation work at the theatre extremely difficult. Erosion had caused the stones belonging to the upper tiers of seats to slip downhill, and they lay in tumbled heaps.