Historical bath to open to tourism

YOZGAT

Work has started to open the Basilica Therma Roman Bath, known as the “King’s Daughter,” in the Sarıkaya district of the Central Anatolian province of Yozgat. The bath was included in the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List in 2018.

It is believed that the daughter of the Roman king, who was living in Kayseri and had an incurable disease, recovered in these Roman Bath ruins and pools, which were unearthed during the excavations initiated by the Sarıkaya Municipality and the Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism in 2014.

After three years, cleaning and excavation work was initiated by the Yozgat Museum Directorate in the vicinity of the bath, which attracts attention with its architecture and healing water that has been flowing at 50 degrees for 2,000 years.

Speaking to the state-run Anadolu Agency, Provincial Culture and Tourism Director Hüseyin Çiftçi said that the Sarıkaya Roman Bath is known as one of the first thermal treatment centers in the world.

He explained that the excavations started in 2014 and continued until 2018, adding, “The Roman Bath was included in the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List in 2018. There has been no excavation since 2018. Finally, a new project has been made with the work of the Culture and Tourism Ministry General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums. The area will be opened to tourism as an archaeological site by the end of 2021.”

Stating that within the scope of the project, sightseeing and photo shooting areas will be created, Çiftçi said, “We want tourists to be able to visit Sarıkaya Roman Bath comfortably when they come here. This is one of the important spots in history. There are two places in the world that have hot springs. One is in England and the other is this Yozgat Sarıkaya Roman Bath. We want people to see the living water source in Sarıkaya Roman Bath, to benefit from this water that has remained unchanged for nearly 2,000 years, so that they can both touch and experience the history.”

Çiftçi emphasized that a tourist welcome center will be built on the place of the two buildings that will be demolished in the area.

“Infrastructure works related to the areas to be excavated were initiated. We are planning to bring this place to tourism with the other works included in the project,” he said.