The 1800-year-old port is being resurfaced

Excavation work has been started to bring to light the ancient port of Soli Pompeipolis, which dates back to 1800 years ago, is among the most important and largest ports of the Eastern Mediterranean and is almost entirely under sand.

1. Excavation work has been started in the ancient port of Soli Pompeipolis, which is located in the central Mezitli district of Mersin province of Turkey and is the port of the ancient city of Soli Pompeipolis, which constitutes one of the world historical heritage with its columned street, mound, ancient port, aqueducts, bath and acropolis.

2. Excavation at the Ancient Port of Soli Pompeiopolis, which dates back to the 2nd century, began on August 4, 2022. The excavations, which started under the direction of Prof. Dr. Remzi Yağcı, Head of the Department of Museology at Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Letters, will continue for 2 months.

3. In the excavations carried out for the first time, the breakwaters of the port will be tried to be uncovered this year, while in the last stage, the connection with the colonnaded street will be unearthed.

4. The Head of the Excavation, Prof. Dr. Remzi Yağcı, made a statement about the studies initiated for the first time this year.

5. Remzi Yağcı, stating that this is one of the largest ports in the Eastern Mediterranean, said, "This port is the port of the city founded by the great Pompeius. The port is a very important indicator of economic activity. Already Soli Pompeipolis is a big city. Although it has little visible part, it is one of the active ports in the Roman Empire. Years later, we took this place into our program and started to work."

6. Pointing out that they started their work with 10 workers, Yağcı said, "Of course, this number will increase. We are planning to increase the number of workers to 30. We are now on the western wavebreaker. Of course, the uncovering of this place is not a medium-term project, but a long-term project."

7. Emphasizing that the port was completely finished in the 2nd century, Yağcı said, "This port was fully activated one thousand 800 years ago. In other words, we aim to show that the sea goes up to the colonnaded street. Our work continues with the permission of our Ministry of Culture and Tourism and with the support of Mezitli Municipality, MIP and Chamber of Shipping. This year we will work here for more than 2 months."