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Turkey's medieval Beçin keeps traces of old Anatolia
Turkey's medieval Beçin keeps traces of old Anatolia
The ancient city of Beçin in western Turkey dates back to 2,000 BC and has hosted many civilizations. Excavations and restorations are continuing in the city. Click through for the story in photos...
The ancient city has been on the tentative list since 2012 and works have been continuing since then. As part of the works, many artifacts have been unearthed during archaeological excavations and historical structures have been restored.
Professor Kadir Pektaş, head of the archeological excavation team, told state-run Anadolu Agency that the city dated back to 2,000 B.C. but gained importance during the Menteşoğulları sultanate in the 13th and 14th century.
Stating that several coins and ceramics had been found in the ancient city since the beginning of the excavations in 1974, Pektaş said thousands of coins unearthed by a team under Professor Rahmi Hüseyin Ünal in 2000 were among the important treasures of the Ottomans.
He said Beçin was also one of the important cities in the Turkish-Islamic era, adding: “Beçin is one of the rare examples that was established and developed in the 14th and 15th centuries and preserved itself during this process. The Beçin Castle is a place that carries very significant traces of Anatolian Turkish art.”
Pektaş said that Menteşoğulları chose Beçin and its castle as its capital, where the tomb of its founder, Ahmet Gazi, was also there.
“Beçin was the capital of the Menteşe Beylic since the 1330s. In the Middle Age, it was a big city with neighborhoods surrounded by outer walls along with the inner castle. We know that there were other structures in the inner castle rather than the bath, cistern and current houses. In the lower city, surrounded by city walls, there are structures like the Orhaniye Mosque, Ahmet Gazi Madrasah, tombs and a domed fountain as well as important structures on both sides of a road that we unearthed in recent years. We also know the existence of a chapel and a church. New ones will be unearthed as excavations continue,” Pektaş said, adding that Beçin reflected the general features of Karya and Menteşe settlements.
“The ancient city is not only famous for its historical structures but also its diversity of plants and animals. For this reason, we are conducting studies for the UNESCO permanent list,” he added.
UNESCO also described Menteşeoğulları as one of the “most important” sultanates in terms of the cultural elements that they left in western Anatolia which could be considered as the first examples representing the characteristics of the Ottoman.
“The architectural remains of the Beçin city not only enlighten the western Anatolian architecture of that period but also the form of the first Turkish settlements in that region,” UNESCO says in its description statement.
The archaeological site of Beçin has been excavated systemically since 1972. And in 2000, a hoard of coins, 60,000 of which are from the Ottoman period, was found in Beçin, it says. “It is not only the largest hoard that has ever been found in Turkey in archaeological excavations, but also the largest cache of Ottoman coins that has ever been found,” UNESCO adds.
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