PAU Faculty Members Give a Lecture at the Exhibition Opening in Sarayköy

At the opening ceremony of the event held at Sarayköy Municipality Cultural Center, Pamukkale University (PAU) Archaeology Department Faculty Member Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bilge Yılmaz Kolancı made a presentation titled "Sarayköy's Cultural Heritage: Attouda Ancient City and Hisar Village", and Prof. Dr. Mehmet Özkul, Retired Faculty Member of the Department of Geology, made a presentation on "UNESCO Global Geoparks as a Sustainable Development Tool".

Sarayköy District Governor Celalettin Cantürk, Sarayköy Mayor Ahmet Necati Özbaş, Denizli Provincial Culture and Tourism Director Turhan Veli Akyol, Deputy Director Hayrullah Akgün, Denizli Museum Director Nail Uyar, Chamber of Geological Engineers Denizli Branch President Barış Semiz, Pamukkale University Engineering Faculty Geological Engineering Department Head Prof. Dr. Halil Kumsar, district protocol, students and citizens attended the opening ceremony of the exhibition.

In the opening speeches of the conference, Sarayköy Mayor Özbaş mentioned the geothermal energy, thermal tourism, cultural tourism and agricultural potential of Sarayköy and stated that "they have supported the excavations in Hisarköy Attouda and will continue to support them from now on". Sarayköy District Governor Cantürk, on the other hand, stated that Denizli has a real value in terms of tourism and that they aim to take it further and reinforce its place in the world and said, "We are taking firm steps forward here thanks to our valuable scientists. I believe that as the awareness of our citizens increases in this direction, we will do better things."

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kolancı: "Attouda is aimed to be one of the important tourism centers of Denizli."

Following the speeches, the program continued with conferences and a presentation was made about the surveys carried out in the ancient city between 2021 and 2023 with the permission of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, in cooperation with Pamukkale University and Sarayköy Municipality, with a scientific committee headed by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bilge Yılmaz Kolancı from PAU Department of Archaeology. Head of the study delegation Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kolancı gave the following information:

"Denizli province is one of the richest settlements in our country in terms of its archaeological and historical sites. Attouda Ancient City within the borders of Hisar Neighborhood of Sarayköy district in the west of Denizli province is an important settlement among these important archaeological and historical sites. Studies have shown that an uninterrupted life has been going on for almost 2700 years with the Hisar village settlement established on the ancient city. With this feature, the settlement has gained the identity of a unique open-air museum that brings together the remains of many civilizations in Anatolia, which has been home to countless civilizations for thousands of years, in a single settlement. 

The ancient city of Attouda was declared a 1st degree archaeological site in 1988, 143 buildings that constitute original examples of Anatolian traditional residential architecture belonging to Hisar Village were registered in 2009, and an urban archaeological site was declared in 2013. It is important in terms of being one of the 35 urban archaeological sites in our country. In the settlement, which dates back to the 7th century BC, buildings and artifacts belonging to the Hellenistic, Roman Empire, Byzantine, Anatolian Seljuk, Ottoman and Republican Periods are seen together. With this feature, it offers visitors a time tunnel view.  The survey work completed in 2023 is planned to be transformed into excavation work in 2024. With the excavation and restoration works planned to be carried out in Attouda and the historical Hisar settlement, it is aimed to make the settlement one of the important tourism centers of Denizli. With these studies, visitors to the settlement will be able to see the structures and artifacts preserved from the ancient period to the present day."

Prof. Dr. Özkul: "Under the leadership of our Metropolitan Municipality, efforts are underway to establish and promote the "Denizli Travertine Geopark""