Excavations resume in Kastabala

OSMANİYE

Excavation and rescue works have been resumed in the theater area in the ancient city of Kastabala, which dates back to 2,000 years in the southern province of Osmaniye and is called the Ephesus of Çukurova.

Archaeological excavations started in 2009 in the ancient city of Kastabala, which developed around a medieval castle rising on a rock overlooking a small plain near the Ceyhan River, between the villages of Keskinburun, Bahçe and Kazmaca, on the Cevdetiye-Karatepe road, 12 kilometers from the city center.

The excavations were interrupted for a while and resumed in the city’s theater area by Osmaniye Korkut Ata University and Provincial Culture Directorate.

“This ancient city has a hammam, avenues and a theater area. As these excavations continue, the values of this place will come to light. We believe that it will become an important tourism center. There are Roman and Medieval buildings. We call this place the Ephesus of Çukurova because there are structures very similar to the ones in the ancient city of Ephesus.”

Stating that they recently unearthed a seating area, the Deputy Provincial Culture Director Burhan Torun said, “Our goal here is to go one and a half meters deep and evacuate the soil. We call this place the Ephesus of Çukurova. Because we are in a really important place in terms of the fact that there is a columned road that still stands here and that it has a theatrical area.

Hopefully, we will open these places to events soon. We invite local and foreign tourists to Osmaniye, the city of castles, especially to Kastabala.”

One of the cities of the Late Hitite period, Kastabala was called Hieropolis or Hieropolis Kastabala during the Hellenistic and Roman periods.

The ancient city is home to a colonnaded street, an amphitheater and a historical castle. It was one of the religious, cultural and artistic centers of the region.