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This is a view looking south down the Western Portico of the North Agora. The outer wall of the west portico is located behind the black fabric on the right (west) side of the image. The erected columns formed the agora side of the portico and a roof ran from the columns to the wall. The area between the wall and the columns was covered. This western portico was 980 feet long!
On the left side of the image, a portion of the long rectangular west pool is visible. Behind the dirt scarp of the excavated area, the tops of the columns of the eastern portico are barely visible. This agora was huge—almost 9 acres (3.6 ha.) in size—about equal to 6.5 American Football Fields.
The North (Sacred) Agora is located at the west end, and north of, Syrian Street. The three main entranceways are from the Syrian Street via monumental entrances. There are two porticos running north-south—one on the east and one on the west. Parallel to them, there were two long pools. In the center of the Agora, there were two temples: one dedicated to Athena and the other to Zeus—along with associated altars.
The North Agora was initially constructed during the reign of Augustus (r. 27 BC to AD 14). The temples were dismantled during the reign of Constantine (r. 306–337) and a church was constructed at the north end of the Agora. The earthquake of 494 destroyed parts of the Agora and it completely collapsed in the early seventh–century.
