Republic Monument in ancient city

MUĞLA

The monument of the 10th anniversary of the Republic, which has been unearthed during the excavations in the ancient city of Stratonikeia, a site included in the UNESCO World Heritage Temporary List, is being exhibited in the village square after 87 years.

The ancient city, which is the world’s largest marble city and was an important city in the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Anatolian principalities, as well as in the Ottoman and Republican periods, is on the sightseeing route of local and foreign visitors with its 3,000-year-old historical ruins.

The 10th anniversary monument of the republic welcomes the visitors on the square of the ancient city, which is known as the “City of Gladiators,” where visitors can also see works such as historical baths, city streets, a theater and a historical mosque.

Speaking to the state-run Anadolu Agency, the head of the Stratonikeia excavations, Bilal Söğüt said that the ancient city is the largest marble city in the world, which had a significant place in many periods.

Emphasizing that they have reached important data every year in the excavations carried out in the city, Söğüt said that Stratonikeia is a unique and living city of archeology.

“There is no other city where the buildings were preserved as a whole since the ancient times. Stratonikeia is home to structures such as colonnaded streets, Turkish baths, theaters, temples, historical houses, mosques and fountains. Village squares have already been excavated and restored. Lots of artifacts were unearthed. One of the works preserved in Stratonikeia is the monument erected on the village square of that time in the 10th year of the republic. During the work in Stratonikeia, we found the 10th Year Monument, which was erected earlier in the village square. During the celebrations of the 10th anniversary of the Republic, such monuments were erected on the squares of all central settlements and opened on Oct. 29, 1933. However, the number of known examples is very low now. We found the monument while working in the city. We got it under protection after 87 years. We started to exhibit at the entrance of the village square,” Söğüt said.

Reminding that the city is closed to visitors at the moment, Söğüt said, “It is a must to stay at home during this period. When we start working again, we will continue to find monuments from different periods and display them in the proper place and protect the works from ancient times to the present,” he added.