Uzuncaburç: A visual feast in winter

The ancient city of Uzuncaburç (Olba), one of the most notable tourism attractions in the southern province of Mersin, is a draw for visitors even in the winter months when it acquires an extra beauty under a blanket of snow.

Located 30 kilometers from the center of the Silifke, Uzuncaburç is home to columns, temples, churches and monumental tombs that are thousands of year old. The city is also known for its resemblance to the ancient city of Ephesus in İzmir, earning it the moniker of the “Mediterranean Ephesus.”

Silifke Tourism Association Chairman Ali Küçük said the ancient city hosted thousands of local and foreign guests every year. 

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Reliefs in Mersin fall victims to treasure hunters

DHA photo

The walls of the Şeytan Deresi Canyon in Mersin are home to some of the most unique reliefs in the world, but a lack of formal protection has resulted in treasure hunters damaging the artwork despite the lack of any valuables in the area.

“Treasure hunters dig these places for nothing and damage the reliefs. People carved their reliefs there in the ancient ages but established their graveyards in the main rocks in very different parts of the valley that cannot be discovered,” said Mersin University Archaeology Department Professor Serra Durugönül regarding the Adamkayalar (man-rocks) reliefs, which consist of 11 men, four women, two children, a mountain goat and an eagle.

The reliefs, which dates from the second and third centuries B.C., are located in such a difficult location that even mountain goats experience difficulty in accessing them.

Despite all the difficulties, the Adamkayalar region has been looted by treasure hunters for years even though no historical artifacts have been found there. 

The professor said she had first seen the region in 1980, noting that its situation was better then than today. 

“People living in that era established their graveyards in a variety of different places to protect them from robbers. Actually, it is impossible to find the places of these graves,” Durugönül said. “Nobody has so far succeeded in finding anything there because they can’t. There are similar geographical and topographical valleys like this one, but they don’t have such rich reliefs. It is possible to see various graveyards and reliefs while walking through the Şeytan Deresi Canton but all of them have been damaged.”

Guard needed 
Durungönül said they had made some proposals to the Mersin Governor’s Office for the protection of the region.

“We made an official application to the Mersin Governor’s Office years ago. We suggested a project for the establishment of a walking lane there as well as a platform for people to walk there easily, along with security cameras. The best solution is to post a guard there. This guard could oversee the entrances and exits and also give information to visitors about the region like a tourist guide. The governor’s office leaned toward to our proposal and informed the ministry about the issue, but we are still at the same point,” she said.

“Forget about Turkey, no place in the Mediterranean region, or even Europe, has such reliefs that are related to each other. The Adamkayalar were not finished at one time; they were finished one after the other and the earliest example dates back to the second century, and the last one dates back to the third century.

People buried the dead for 500 years and then came back to commemorate them,” the professor said.
Hürrıyet Daily news

Mersin'de anıt mezar bulundu

Direk dikmek için kazılan yerde anıt mezar çıktı.

10 Şubat 2013 Pazar 15:10

Mersin'de elektrik direği için iş makinesi ile kazı yapan işçiler, içinde insan iskeleti ve bazı tarihi eşyaların bulunduğu oda şeklinde mezar buldu.
Merkez Mezitli ilçesi Atatürk Mahallesi 104. Cadde üzerinde elektrik direklerini değiştiren işçiler, iş makinesi ile çukur kazmaya başladı.
Kazı sırasında iş makinesi bir anda boşluğa girdi. Çukura bakan işçiler insan iskeleti, iki küp ile çok sayıda bardak şeklinde metal parçaya rastladı. İşçiler durumu polise bildirdi.
Olay yerine gelen polisler, çevreyi güvenlik şeridiyle çevirdi, müze müdürlüğü yetkililerine bilgi verdi.
Alana gelen bazı meraklı vatandaşlar, ellerindeki ucuna metal bağlanmış ağaç çubuklarla tarihi eserleri incelemeye çalıştı. Vatandaşlar, çubukla içeriden çıkardıkları bir eseri polisin uyarısı üzerine tekrar yerine bıraktı. Oda mezar olduğu tahmin edilen yerdeki eserler, yapılan incelemelerin ardından müze müdürlüğüne teslim edilecek