The Agora was the largest of its kind in the world and was established in 333 BC by Alexander the Great on the slopes of Mt. Pagos but was ruined in an earthquake in AD 178 and rebuilt soon after by Marcus Aurelius. The Agora was originally partially excavated in 1932-41, revealing an open square (140x140m) flanked by porticoes and a huge civic basilica on the north side. Work started again in 2002 and is still in progress; hundreds of roman graffiti’s have been found in the basement of the Basilica. Inscriptions also indicate the existence of a church. Colonnades of reconstructed Corinthian columns, vaulted chambers and arches give some idea to what a Roman Bazaar would have once looked like, a stone’s throw away from the Ottoman Kemeralti Bazaar.