Syedra excavations reveal quarter of ancient city

ANTALYA

Excavations under Türkiye's Heritage for the Future Project have now uncovered a quarter of the 3,000-year-old city of Syedra in the southern province of Antalya’s Alanya district, driving a steady rise in visitors to this fascinating ancient site.

The excavations have been directed for seven consecutive seasons by Associate Professor Ertuğ Ergürer from Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University’s Faculty of Tourism, under the Culture and Tourism Ministry’s project. The ancient city carries traces from the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Anatolian Seljuk periods, and includes a stadium, theater, council building, bath complex, water systems, pools, cisterns, a colonnaded street, a baptism cave and olive-oil workshops.

Ergürer told state-run Anadolu Agency that the digs have moved much faster over the last three years thanks to the project. He said that this period is called a “golden age” for archaeology, and Syedra has also benefited from this support.

“We started our work in 2019. Until 2023, things moved slowly. After 2023, we began excavating for 12 months. In the past, we could work only two or three months, but now we work from January until the end of December, as long as the weather allows. Alanya’s climate is very suitable, which helped us make significant progress. With year-round excavations and strong support, we did 50 years of work in just three years,” he said.

Ergürer said they started with a very small area, but now excavations continue across the whole site and along all visitor routes. They are working inside an area of about 150,000 square meters. In the past, only 2–3 percent of the city had been uncovered, but now this number has reached 25 percent.

Recent work has revealed many olive-oil workshops, houses, the stadium, streets, stairways, special structures and religious buildings. A large part of the visitor walking route has also been completed.

He added that starting in 2025, the reception and parking areas of Syedra will be renewed. “A new ticket point and reception area are being created. Walking paths are being renewed. In almost 90 percent of the city, visitors will walk on original stairways and original streets. Visitors will walk at the same level the Romans once walked,” he said.

Tour groups visit daily

Ergürer noted that entry to the site remains free for the time being and announced that night visits will start next year, with the entire route illuminated to allow visitors until midnight.

“We are the second cultural stop after Alanya Castle. Visitor numbers have increased a lot in recent years. In 2019, only 2,000–3,000 people came, but now the number is over 100,000. Almost every day, large tour groups come and walk around. They are also close to the excavation areas, so they can get information while visiting, which creates a different atmosphere,” he said.

“We’ve become the second major cultural attraction after Alanya Castle,” Ergürer said. “Visitor numbers have soared in recent years — from just 2,000–3,000 in 2019 to more than 100,000 now. Almost every day, we welcome large tour groups who walk around, often close to the excavation areas, allowing them to receive firsthand explanations from the team as the digs unfold. It creates a completely unique atmosphere.”

He added that the region is important for archaeology: “This is the border area between Rough Cilicia and Pamphylia. Much less work has been done here compared to western Anatolia. That is why the data we find provides new insights for archaeology. The excavations are very important for tourism, culture and science.”