The ancient city of Prusias ad Hypium in Düzce, which is the only surviving ancient city of the Bithynia Region, was photographed by Anadolu Agency (AA) with an FPV drone.
With the permission of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums, with the support of the Konuralp Museum Directorate and Düzce Municipality, the excavations in the ancient city, known as the oldest settlement in the region, continue for 12 months of the year.
Excavations in the ancient city, which was determined to have been destroyed and changed by earthquakes and restorations in the past, are carried out meticulously by a team of 55 people.
There are structures such as the ancient theater, city walls, aqueducts and Roman Bridge in the region, on which new structures were built over time, but the underground richness did not deteriorate.
In the ancient city, where there are structures such as the ancient theater, aqueducts and Roman Bridge, which preserved their existence with steps and arched passages decorated with lion claw figures, 2,000-year-old medusa, mask statues and grotex figure, vault Apollo, goddess of victory and relief statues of Akteon were found.
The ancient city, which can be visited free of charge under the control of Düzce Municipality and Düzce Provincial Culture and Tourism Directorate, was viewed by the AA team with an FPV drone.
"A city with a serious investment"
Koray Erdoğan, expert archaeologist of Düzce Municipality Directorate of Cultural Affairs, one of the excavation team of Prusias ad Hypium Ancient City, said that the ancient city, where excavations continue, was one of the important cities of the Bithynia Kingdom, which started from Bolu in the period called Cladyopolis and extended to Kadıköy in Istanbul today.
Emphasizing that they evaluate the ancient city, which dates back to the 5th century BC, is at least 2500 years old, Erdoğan said, "This city has a serious importance between Istanbul and Ankara. It is a city that gained its economy in terms of agriculture and forestry in the past, and where there was a serious investment in terms of agriculture and forestry. With the excavations carried out in the theater section with an average of 12 thousand people, we are revealing the historical, cultural and economic riches of this city at that time."
Underlining that the ancient city of Prusias ad Hypium is the only public structure unearthed in the Black Sea archeology, Erdoğan said that this is a very serious and private city, and that the construction of the 12,000-seat theater shows that at least 60 thousand people lived here.
Stating that the ancient city of Prusias ad Hypium will be a serious tourism destination, Erdoğan said, "The goal of the excavations is to contribute to the history and culture of Anatolia, and then to our country and world cultural history, as it is the goal of all archaeological excavations."