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Cultural assets in ancient Heracleia are unearth

Photo: Erkan Tabakoğlu Excavation, restoration and conservation work continue with great care in the ancient city of Heracleia, a southwestern city in Türkiye, which attracts thousands of tourists from around the globe. To preserve the natural and historical beauties of Muğla and pass them on to future generations, work continues with great care in ancient cities and ruins with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Muğla Governorship and the Investment Monitoring Coordination Presidency (YIKOB). The ancient city of Heraclea on the shores of Lake Bafa, one of the rare places where cultural assets are intertwined with natural beauty, has attracted the attention of the whole world in recent years and has become one of the critical centers of nature and cultural tourism. After the visit of Muğla Governor Orhan Tavlı to the Milas Kapıkırı region in 2021, excavation and conservation work for the protection of the ancient city of Heracleia started. The works, which started as a rescue excavation, were transferred to the status of a 12-month excavation within one year with the presidential decree. Under this project, critical archaeological data and findings were discovered in the ancient city of Heracleia, the Endymion Sanctuary and the Lake Castle. Among the items were artifacts dating to the Menteşe Principality and early Ottoman period. The researchers were also able to determine that the castle was used until the middle of the 15th century. Heracleia City The ancient city of Heracleia, located within the borders of the Kapıkırı quarter of the Milas district, was a Carian city founded in the late Classical-early Hellenistic period. Located on the southwestern outskirts of Latmos Mountain and the northeastern coast of Bafa Lake, it is one of the few places in the world that can be described as a "sea of rocks" with its extraordinary geological formations, considered sacred in the ancient period when Heracleia was founded. Bafa Lake was once a gulf and turned into a lake with the alluvium carried by the Menderes River. Heracleia has been exceptionally well conserved. The site is a typical Hellenistic town, with a rectilinear street grid dividing residential zones, public squares and shrines, all of the elements and spaces that define Greek urbanism. Heracleia is a remarkable marvel situated in a magnificent environment as a one-of-a-kind and sizable open-air museum. More public buildings from various times can be seen in the ancient city area, including the ruins of the theater, Roman baths, a spring house and a gymnasium (an athletic training ground surrounded by porticoes). A little further south, a remarkable edifice with a curving back wall and a columned porch is considered the sanctuary of Endymion, the shepherd demigod who was supposed to originate from the area. Endymion, the myth It is said that Endymion is a young and handsome shepherd living on Mount Latmos who has been considered sacred since prehistoric times. According to the ancient myth, Endymion used to graze his herds on Latmos Mountain, with its slopes surrounded by lush green grass and fragrant flowers, cheer up nature with the melodies pouring from his pipe. In the evening, he would go to rest in his cave by Lake Bafa. No one could see Endymion in these desolate mountains except the moon goddess Selene. The shepherd Endymion fell in love with this beauty, watching Selene rising toward the sky from the sparkling waters of Lake Bafa and enveloping Latmos Mountain with its lights every evening. Selene also fell in love with this handsome young man. It is said that since that day, Selene, the goddess of the moon, has touched Latmos Mountain with love and made Bafa Lake shine like a silver tray with its radiance. For this reason, it is rumored that Heracleia is one of the most beautiful places on earth where the moonlight reflects. Source: IHA

Is the 8,000 year old Lake Bafa adequately protected?

In his column 2 days ago, national.com.tr writer Abdullah Gürgün claimed that an olive oil factory was established near the "S.S. Bafa Natural Life Agricultural Production and Marketing Cooperative". Gürgün wrote in his article: "A factory cannot be built on a wet agricultural land, in a historical place called "Great Graveyard", "Meşedlik". There is no rain today (Monday), I went and looked, they fill the land with stone, earth, rubble, and gravel. It's not enough. They will probably pour concrete as well. Thus, the cemetery of Muslims, Christians and pre-Christians, the historical area called "Big Cemetery" or "Meşedlik" will be buried in history forever. There is no place to build a factory in such olive groves. Why wasn't it built in the Bafa Industrial Zone, this freaky building, which looks like a huge cardboard, does not befit the beautiful nature and history in and around Lake Bafa. Last week, AA wrote that Bafa is home to 261 bird species, is an important shelter for birds, and there are many archaeological settlements on the shore of the lake. In the region, the islands in the lake and especially the trees on these islands are used as breeding grounds by waterfowl, especially herons. It is known that Ulubat fish (Acanthobrama mirabilis), endemic to the Büyük Menderes Basin, lives in the lake. Nature Association; There are no large facilities within the boundaries of the lake's conservation area. Illegal hunting is a serious threat to the wildlife living in the lake. Small-scale accommodation facilities on the lake shore do not have treatment facilities. The embankment in the northwest of the KBA interferes with the water regime of the lake and affects the natural life in the lake. He wrote on his website that the water returning from the agricultural areas around the lake causes pollution in the lake and that all these are a threat to the lake. Mugla Governor Orhan Tavli; "Bafa Lake and its surroundings are an important breeding and wintering area for waterfowl. Tens of thousands of clumsy meeks overwinter in winter. The region is also an important wintering area for crested pelicans." said. Stating that the region is under protection with archaeological and natural sites, Tavlı noted that excavations have been carried out in the ancient city of Heraklia by the lake for two years and visitors visit these areas. Tavlı stated that Lake Bafa is of international importance due to its biological diversity, endangered species and endemic species, and that it is protected by the international Ramsar, Bern, Rio conventions and the Barcelona Convention. Again, in various news sites, it was written that the wild birds, endemic plants and fish in the Bafa Lake Nature Park were protected by the gendarmerie teams. Yesterday, he talked about Lake Bafa Nature Park in the weekly talk programs of the Ecosystem Conservation and Nature Lovers Association (EKODOSD). EKODOSD President Bahattin Sürücü said, "The story of the work of Rose Mary Baldwin and DHKD President Nergis Yazgan, who made a significant contribution to the protection of the lake, and the events that followed were mentioned. Environmental problems and businesses that disrupt the ecology of the lake, studies and projects carried out with public institutions, scientists, non-governmental organizations on this subject were shown periodically, and the negative effects of the problems on the local economy were explained. The damages of the mines, which cause deep destruction in the extraordinary beauty of the natural landscape, which is integrated with the Latmos Mountains behind the Bafa Lake, and its negative effects on the wildlife in the lake ecosystem were explained. The problems caused by closing the entrances and exits of the lake every year, the concerns of the farmers if it is opened, and the studies of the wetland commission on what to do were mentioned. In other words, the problems of our precious Bafa Lake are being discussed. But do the authorities have a solution approach regarding the damages of this olive oil factory and the destruction of the mines? What are the radical solution decisions that will prevent the factory and possible threats? We know that our people are not sensitive enough about the protection of our natural and cultural riches, but I think the authorities need to be more sanitary and develop more concrete solutions for the protection of Lake Bafa. For example, can the officials of this olive oil factory come out and say that our factory does not harm the lake? Yasemin Arslan

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Cultural assets in ancient Heracleia are unearth

Is the 8,000 year old Lake Bafa adequately protected?