A six-gate rock church that is home to wall paintings featuring Christian icons has been unearthed in the southern province of Burdur’s Bucak district. The rock church in the ancient city of Kremna was discovered by Mehmet Akif Ersoy University (MAKU) Archaeology Department academic Hüseyin Metin and his team during excavations conducted in a mountainous area in the Avdancık village in Bucak district. 

Zengibar Castle, located among the remains of ancient Isaura in the Central Anatolian province of Konya,which is considered the Ephesus of the region, will soon open to tourism. The ancient city of Isaura, estimated to have been built in the Byzantine era some 2,000 years ago, is located 16 kilometers away from the Konya city center on an 1860-meter-high hill.

Winter tourism needs to be diversified in Cappadocia, which is famous for fairy chimneys, rock-carved boutique hotels, underground cities and natural rock formations, according to local tourism representatives. “We are seeking new alternatives to draw more tourists in winter,” Göreme Tourism Development Cooperative Chairman Mustafa Durmaz said, adding that organizing tours to the Erciyes Ski center, which is close to Cappadocia in Kayseri, was among the alternatives.

Digital models of artifacts unearthed during excavations in the ancient city of Kibyra are being created with the use of laser technology, within the scope of a project initiated by the Mehmet Akif Ersoy University (MAKU) in the southern province of Burdur. MAKU Technical Sciences Vocational School Director Serkan Öktem said the university’s goal was to turn the artifacts into digital models so people would be able to “visit” them on the Internet. 

Result of call for tenders: EAC/03/2015

Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia Museum remained Turkey’s most visited tourist attraction last year, according to data released by the Culture and Tourism Ministry. In 2015, 3.47 million people visited the Hagia Sophia, originally built as a 6th century Christian basilica that was converted to an imperial mosque in the 15th century before becoming a museum. It was also the most visited site in Turkey in 2014.

The oldest Christian monastery in Iraq has been reduced to a field of rubble by jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).St. Elijah’s Monastery stood as a place of worship for 1,400 years, including most recently for U.S. troops. In earlier millennia, generations of monks tucked candles in the niches, prayed in the chapel, worshipped at the altar. 

Southern province Şanlıurfa’s Göbeklitepe, recognized as the world’s oldest temple and “point zero of history,” is being promoted in Davos, where the 46th World Economic Forum is being held. The ice sculptures of Göbeklitepe, which are on display next to the Davos Congress Center, have found fans in state ministers, academics, top officials of the world leading companies, artists, sportsmen and NGO representatives. 

Archaeological works are still continuing in the ancient Roman-era basilica discovered at the beginning of 2015 under Lake İznik in Turkey’s northwestern province of Bursa. Forty bronze coins have been found recently in the basilica.

Structures that have been unearthed in the ancient city of Stratonikeia, located in the western province of Muğla’s Yatağan district, will allow visitors to journey back in time with 3-D technology. The 2015 excavation work has recently ended in the ancient city of Stratonikeia, one of the world’s largest marble cities and home to many civilizations.