Thyatira (or Thyateira), now the modern town of Akhisar in Manisa province, was an ancient city in Asia Minor. It was also mentioned as one of the seven churches in the Book of Revelation by St. John.
The first settlement in Thyatira was a colonial city belonging to the Macedonians in the 3rd century BC. It was also called Pelopia, Semiramis, and Euhippa in ancient Greece. Its name changed in the 3rd century during the Hellenistic period. The city was one of the most important settlements of the Lydian State and the Kingdom of Pergamon, which came under their rule after 190 BC. During this period, Thyatira had the privilege to print money in its own name. Agriculture was an important activity in the region and there was also ceramic production, but the most important industry was textile especially during the Roman era; the city was famous for its weaving and dyeing facilities and was a center of the purple cloth trade. It was also an important city in terms of military and commercial point of view as it was at the intersection of roads in the region, between Sardis and Pergamum.
Thyatira was one of the settlements in the region, along with Sardis and Philadelphia, where gladiator fights were most intense. During the Roman period the city suffered great damage as a result of severe earthquakes, especially in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, but it was rebuilt with the help of the emperors. Most likely the city was abandoned and destroyed due to Arab-Islamic threats in the 7th and 8th centuries AD. There is not much trace from the middle and late Byzantine period. It fell into the hands of the Turks after the 11th century.
Thyatira was home to a Christian community from the apostolic period which continued until 1922. The see of Thyatira is also included in the Roman Catholic Church's list of Titular Sees. It is the place where one of the seven churches from the early ages of Christianity is located.
There are only few ruins left from its glorious past; a part of the columned street from the Roman period dating from the 2nd to the 4th centuries AD, and the ruins of a Byzantine basilica. The artifacts unearthed during archaeological excavations are in the museum.
Today, the modern town of Akhisar is famous especially with its olives and olive oil production in Turkey.