The restoration of the "city of gladiators," Stratonicea, located in the Yatağan district of Muğla, has been ongoing for some time, and the latest addition to the ancient site has been a new series of seating steps at the 2,200-year-old council building.
Stratonicea, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative list, is home to many civilizations and is considered one of the largest marble cities in the world, containing traces of Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman periods.
Head of Stratonicea and Lagina Excavations, Professor Bilal Söğüt told Anadolu Agency (AA) that excavation and restoration works in the ancient city continued for 12 months.
Söğüt stated they carried out conservation and partial restoration work in certain areas with the support of Muğla Governorship and Yatağan Municipality, under the project prepared last year at the parliament building in the ancient city.
Söğüt explained that the council building was built in the Hellenistic period, and the area was expanded a little more during the Roman period and turned into an odeon – ancient Greek and Roman buildings built for musical activities such as singing, musical shows, and poetry competitions.
"This is a building that has been used both as a council building and an odeon. Beyond being a council building or a building showing that this place was a city-state, there is an ancient calendar on the structure. Also, there are also the names and prices of all the services and products sold in Stratonicea during the Roman period."
"There is also an additional separate inscription covering an area of approximately 23 square meters (247 square feet). In this respect, our restoration and conservation works in certain areas continue here, and we will hopefully complete these works this year," Söğüt said.
"We put new step blocks to protect the existing steps, especially on the sides of the seating steps, during the works in the council building. In truth, we carried out more protection-oriented works."
Söğüt stated that after erecting the south entrance of the structure, they would now also raise the north entrance.
"We use new materials as little as possible. We apply them exactly where necessary. We do this more with original materials," he said.
Söğüt stated that with the work, they wanted to enable visitors to sit on the steps of the council building and rest and be immersed in history.
