Excavations are continuing at the ancient city of Tieion, which was established in Filyos in Zonguldak’s Çaycuma district in the 6th century B.C. The site is considered to be the Ephesus of the Black Sea Region.
Excavation Chairman Professor Sümer Atasoy, a member of the Karabük University Archaeology department, said that since no modern settlements existed in Filyos, everything was underground, adding, “If the ancient city is completely unearthed, it will be the only ancient city in the Black Sea region.”
Excavations in the ancient city began in 2006 and among works unearthed so far are a civic tower, coastal walls, an aqueduct, a theater, a temple, a church, 10 graves and a collection of metal coins.
This year’s excavations are being carried out by nearly 30 students from Trakya University, the Fine Arts Faculty at Mimar Sinan University and Süleyman Demirel University and began July 12. A 2,500-seat theater has been located at the entrance of the city, but because of limited finances this year’s excavations will finish in two weeks time, leaving the complete excavation of the theatre and remaining unexplored areas buried.
Atasoy said the 800,000 Turkish liras allocated to the excavation had already been spent in the four years of excavations. “This year we are working on the Roman period only. Some parts of the theater are located beneath the Çaycuma-Filyos road. We have also seen some very big stone blocks, which demonstrates that Filyos was a city of trade,” he said.
Reiterating that the area was home to the only unspoiled ancient city on the Black Sea coast, Atasoy said that it should be preserved as well as possible. He said that research should continue for the next 10-15 years in order to unearth the ancient city completely.
Source: Hurriyet [August 31, 2010]