Two mosaic fields in Germanicia open to visitors

KAHRAMANMARAŞ – Demirören News Agency

Two newly discovered mosaic areas in the ancient city of Germanicia in the southeastern province of Kahramanmaraş have been opened to visitors. A part of the ancient city was opened in August last year. 

Archaeologist Safinaz Akbaş said the excavation team leading the works was planning to open other new fields, discovered with a 1 million Turkish Lira budget provided by the Eastern Mediterranean Development Agency (DOĞAKA), at the end of this year, too.

Located in the Dulkadiroğlu neighborhood, the ancient city was discovered in 2007 during illegal excavations. Registration, expropriation, excavation and preservation works have still been ongoing to uncover the ancient city that spans a 140-hectare area, including the neighborhoods of Namık Kemal, Şeyhadil, Dulkadiroğlu and Bağlarbaşı. 

Akbaş said that the ancient site was established in the 1st century A.D., but they could only access and find the mosaics and ruins of the city dating to the 4th and 6th centuries. “It was revealed that it dates back to the late Roman and early Byzantine periods. But further excavations could give more data from even earlier periods,” she said. 

Akbaş, who has been working in the ancient city since it was discovered in 2007, said they found that Bağlarbaşı neighborhood was the settlement area in the ancient city. 

“We also learned that Şeyhadil neighborhood was the city center,” she added. 

“In 2014-2015, a walking platform was built around the mosaic area with a temporary protection wall and roof. After restoration and conservation processes were carried out on the mosaics, the area was opened to visitors for free with the permission of the ministry. Now we are working on a project to build a walking platform in the recently discovered two-mosaic area. The new two areas will be opened to visitors by the end of this year,” she said. 

She also noted that the area, which was opened to visitors in the last year, had a 140 square-meter mosaic and the new two areas had a total of 150 square meters of mosaics.