Ottoman-era fountain emerges after quake

TOKAT

In the wake of recent earthquakes with magnitudes ranging from 4 to 5.6 in Tokat's Sulusaray district, a historical structure came to light. An Ottoman-era fountain has been revealed after the plaster of a former Quran course building peeled off during the temblors.

The fountain in the building, belonging to the Sulusaray Mufti's Office in Buğdaylı village of the district, was determined to have been built in 1895.

“This historical structure is the ruins of a fountain. It was built in 1895 in the Ottoman period. This fountain was covered with plaster, and then a new fountain was built next to it. When the plaster fell off during the earthquake, a fountain was seen in the background. This shows that even though historical artifacts are covered over time, they may reappear during an earthquake. The structures built during the Ottoman period, Seljuk and other earlier buildings are still standing despite hundreds of years and many earthquakes. These works are made very solidly,” said Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University Head of History Department, Professor Alpaslan Demir.

In Sulusaray district, the first excavations started in 1987 of the ancient city of Sebastapolis, which is believed to have been founded in the 1st century B.C. Works continued at different times in the ancient city site, which is home to traces from the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods.

During the excavations in Sebastapolis, which means “great majestic city,” a 2,000-year-old road dating back to the Roman era was recently discovered.