Excavations at the ancient city of Syedra in the Alanya district of Antalya have uncovered more than 100 olive oil workshops — far exceeding local needs and signaling its role as a major ancient production and export hub.
With a history dating back around 3,000 years, Syedra is currently being excavated under the Culture and Tourism Ministry’s “Heritage for the Future Project,” led by Associate Professor Ertuğ Ergürer from Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University’s Faculty of Tourism.
Bearing traces of the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Anatolian Seljuk periods, the site stands out with its stadium, theater, council building, baths, clean water infrastructure systems, pools, cisterns, colonnaded street, baptistery cave and olive oil workshops.
Speaking to state-run Anadolu Agency, Ergürer said the olive oil workshops uncovered during the excavations clearly demonstrate that Syedra was a major production center. He noted that olive oil workshops are among the most frequently encountered architectural elements at the site.
“So far, we have unearthed close to 20 olive oil workshops through excavations. Additionally, we have identified more than 100 olive oil workshops throughout the entire ancient city. This points to very intensive olive oil production here,” he said.
Ergürer underlined that it was striking to find olive oil workshops within the city itself, noting that almost every structure appears to have a workshop related to olive oil or other forms of production beneath it, with two- or three-story residential buildings above.
He explained that buildings facing the streets had shops dedicated to production on the lower levels, while the upper floors were used as living spaces.
“The fact that the olive oil workshops are located within the city is particularly interesting for us. Usually, production areas are found outside city walls. Here, however, they are located beneath almost every structure. This clearly shows how intensive olive oil production was in Syedra,” he said.
He said that in 2024, they identified an olive oil workshop on the city’s southwestern street where nearly all stones and materials were found in their original positions. A large storage container, known in antiquity as a “pithos,” used for collecting olive oil, was also discovered in situ.
“After sharing the documentation and data from these findings with our ministry, we carried out work to reconstruct the facility so that visitors can see how olive oil was produced,” Ergürer said. “Here, olives are crushed in the workshops, taken to the press section and olive oil is extracted using wooden levers and mechanisms before being collected in containers and transferred to other storage vessels.”
Role in ancient trade networks
Ergürer noted that after the fourth century A.D., major unrest in the Western Roman world pushed populations eastward, leading to significant population growth across Anatolia and increased production.
“In this period, production increased throughout Anatolia, and the olive oil workshops in Syedra may have played a major role in trade networks,” he said. “We have identified very intensive olive cultivation in Syedra. This city, which we know also produced its own amphorae, likely exported its products via the port known as Ada Taş to the opposite shores of the Mediterranean or other regions.”
He emphasized that the number of olive oil workshops is high relative to the city’s population density, suggesting that production was not only for local consumption but also for export.
Ergürer added that work continues on visitor routes and reception areas at the site. “The restored olive oil workshop in the southwestern section is part of the visitor route. Once visitor access begins, these areas will be fully open, and visitors will be able to learn about olive oil production through information panels and visual elements,” he said.
