Akhisar’s photographs on display in Italy’s Rome

ROME - Anatolia News Agency

A new exhibition of works by photographer Mehmet Okutan, titled “Illuminare” and including images from the excavation of Akhisar’s ancient Thyatirea church site, has opened at the tourism section of the Turkish Embassy in Rome.

The exhibition will continue until Sept. 17, said Turkey’s Vatican Ambassador Kernan Gürsoy, speaking at the opening. This exhibition will shed light not only on ancient times, but on today, Gürsoy said, thanking everyone who had helped to make it possible.

Akhisar has a 9,000-year history and the area also witnessed urban settlement 5,000 years ago, all of which has been revealed by the excavations there, Justice and Development Party (AKP) Vice President Hüseyin Tanrıverdi said. The photographs in the exhibit are only the tip iceberg, Tanrıverdi said, noting that there is much more to see at Akhisar.

The photographs document the excavation, which has revealed that Akhisar has long been a busy trade center, due to its strategic location at the intersection of important roads in ancient and medieval times. It was one of the cities where money was first used. Akhisar also hosted one of the Seven Churches of the Revelation, known as Thyateira and the subject of much of the excavation.

Today, Akhisar is still the trade and business center of its region. Akhisar’s name is internationally associated with tobacco.