Farmstead with Tower
The tower, known simply as the “building” among the locals and oriented in the east-west direction, is located in the hilly area just north of the Kocagözler neighbourhood’s Cemetery, in the western part of the city. Due to its location, it is at a strategic point that completely sees over the western part of the city. There are no fortification wall or other structures around it. It is a single-room and single-floor structure. The rectangular building is 12.12 m long and 8.42 m wide. The wall thickness is 0.77 m. Fine dressed blocks of local limestone were used in the construction and the walls were built in isodomic masonry.
The locations of the entrance and windows of the tower could not be identified. However, there is a vent at a central point on the west wall. Just south of the tower, a rock-cut press-beam hole was attested. Although the exact details are not understood, it can be said that this area functioned as a work-area. Based on the work-area, the structure is thought to be a farmstead; However, the vent in the west wall suggests that the structure also had a defensive function. Thus, it should be noted that it exhibits an example of a tower-farm similar to those seen in central Lycia and Cilicia. Here, it functions as a work-area where agricultural activities were carried out and a tower capable to see the dangers approaching from the west. Dating of the structure is not easy in light of the available data. However, based on the construction technique and potsherds collected around it, it can be said that it was built during the Roman Imperial period and used well into the Byzantine period.
Farmstead with Tower