145-mln-year-old fossils discovered at Republic Monument, claims expert

Musa Kesler - ISTANBUL

A geologist from Istanbul Technical University has claimed that fossils on some 145-million-year-old stones used at the base of the Republic Monument, a notable monument located at Istanbul’s Taksim Square, have come to the surface.

“When you look at the monument, you can see fossils clearly,” Serkan Angı, who is also a natural stone specialist, told daily Hürriyet on March 15.

The Republic Monument was designed and built by Italian sculptor Pietro Canonica and unveiled at Taksim Square on Aug. 8, 1928.

According to Angı, the sculptor used Rosso di Verona, a variety of limestone with different tones of red, from the Trentino province of Italy, in the construction of the base and the load-bearing columns of the monument.

“It is a type of fossiliferous limestone formed in the Jurassic period, some 145 million years ago,” he noted.

The expert claimed that this limestone was made of the fossils of ammonites, sea creatures that existed in those times.

“This type of stone is not fit for use in open spaces. They can wear out with time. So, when you get close to the Republican Monument, you can see the fossils clearly,” he added.