Historic sites along the route of an underwater tube tunnel line connecting İstanbul’s European and Asian sides will be protected under a new preservation scheme.
As part of the İstanbul Strait Highway Transit Project, Turkey’s ATAŞ Company has prepared a special plan to ensure the preservation of historical artifacts on the European side from the Cankurtaran shoreline to Haydarpaşa. So as not to share the same fate as the Marmaray Project, which has see a delay of three-and-a-half years, experts have produced a detailed archeological and historical analysis of the line.
Ground-penetrating radar was used to scan the tunnel route to ensure that no historical remnants remained. Geophysical surveys for archaeological mapping, especially in underpasses where excavation will be conducted and in areas containing cut-and-cover structures, were conducted in order to gain further information about likely archeological finds.
Specialist in Byzantine architecture from Mimar Sinan University’s department of archaeology Associate Professor Haluk Çetinkaya and his team worked for close to six months along the tunnel’s route. Their report, which indicates that the Kazlıçeşme-Cankurtaran shoreline was sea until the 1950s, states that archeologists will oversee all excavations. The remaining sections of the 400-year-old sea walls, in Çatladıkapı, Kumkapı, Yenikapı and Davutpaşa, will also be preserved.
The company will implement guidelines relating to archeological structures and a specific procedure for dealing with serendipitous discoveries throughout the entire process of the construction on the European side. Excavations will be conducted in areas where possible finds are suspected under the supervision of archeologists and art historians designated by the Cultural and Natural Heritage Preservation General Directorate.
Officials maintain that the company will not undertake any dig without the prior evaluation of experts and that they will hand over any artifact unearthed to the relevant authorities.
As part of the project, a pedestrian underpass will be constructed on the south side of the 15th-century Mermerkule Köşk to enable easy pedestrian access. Also along the tunnel route and on the list of historic sites to be protected are the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, also known as the Little Hagia Sophia mosque, and the Boukoleon Palace and harbor.
Author: YASİN KILIÇ | Source: Todays Zaman [April 19, 2011]
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| A new scheme will ensure the protection of historic sites along the route of an underwater tube line allowing for passage across the Bosporus |
Ground-penetrating radar was used to scan the tunnel route to ensure that no historical remnants remained. Geophysical surveys for archaeological mapping, especially in underpasses where excavation will be conducted and in areas containing cut-and-cover structures, were conducted in order to gain further information about likely archeological finds.
Specialist in Byzantine architecture from Mimar Sinan University’s department of archaeology Associate Professor Haluk Çetinkaya and his team worked for close to six months along the tunnel’s route. Their report, which indicates that the Kazlıçeşme-Cankurtaran shoreline was sea until the 1950s, states that archeologists will oversee all excavations. The remaining sections of the 400-year-old sea walls, in Çatladıkapı, Kumkapı, Yenikapı and Davutpaşa, will also be preserved.
The company will implement guidelines relating to archeological structures and a specific procedure for dealing with serendipitous discoveries throughout the entire process of the construction on the European side. Excavations will be conducted in areas where possible finds are suspected under the supervision of archeologists and art historians designated by the Cultural and Natural Heritage Preservation General Directorate.
Officials maintain that the company will not undertake any dig without the prior evaluation of experts and that they will hand over any artifact unearthed to the relevant authorities.
As part of the project, a pedestrian underpass will be constructed on the south side of the 15th-century Mermerkule Köşk to enable easy pedestrian access. Also along the tunnel route and on the list of historic sites to be protected are the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, also known as the Little Hagia Sophia mosque, and the Boukoleon Palace and harbor.
Author: YASİN KILIÇ | Source: Todays Zaman [April 19, 2011]