2017 EXCAVATION, CONSERVATION AND REPAIR WORKS
The Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism, General Directorate of Cultural Assets and Museums; In accordance with the excavation and sondage license to be carried out in relation to Cultural and Natural Assets, the excavation and restoration works of the ancient city of Tripolis were started in 2017.
Activities in Tripolis in 2017 were evaluated under two headings as Excavation and Restoration Works. While excavation works continue in one sector, restoration works are carried out in 6 different buildings. These works are carried out with the participation of 4 archaeologists, 1 restorer, 5 archaeology department students from different universities and 19 workers.
1. EXCAVATION WORKS
1.1 Agora Courtyard
The Agora; which was built in the city center in the Roman Period in the north-south direction and with a rectangular plan; continued to be used with new arrangements made in the late 4th - early 5th century A.D. The 49 x 68 m. building covers an area of approximately 3332 m². The current appearance of the agora, which reflects the final form of the agora in the Late Roman Period, has a similar plan with the agora built in the same place in earlier periods (Early Imperial Period). The excavation of the building which built in the city center was started in 2014, the columned galleries were emerged, a part of the courtyard was excavated and most of the restoration works were completed. The excavation of the unexcavated part of the Agora courtyard measuring 44 x 57 m. with an open area of approximately 2500 m² is planned to be completed within the excavation program of 2017.
2. RESTORATION WORKS
Restoration, conservation and drawing works were carried out in the Agora North Portico and the West, North and East Porticoes of the Sanctuary in the Ancient City of Tripolis between January 02-June 15, 2017 under the supervision of Denizli Museum Directorate. With the provision of the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism, General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums dated 23.06.2017 and numbered 129811, the excavation permit for 2017 was obtained and restoration and conservation works continued from where they left off.
The restoration and conservation works were carried out by the architects, archaeologists and restorers listed in the excavation committee list, who are experts in their fields, in line with the conservation and repair provisions taken within the international framework.
The works can be divided into two sections: the works carried out on architectural artifacts in the excavation area and on portable cultural assets in the excavation laboratory. In this context, some of the restoration works were completed in 2017 in the Sanctuary, Tabernas, Arched Structure, Agora North Portico, and Agora South. The drawing and proofing of the architectural blocks of the buildings are in the process of completion.
2.1 Agora North Portico
In accordance with the permition of Aydın Regional Council for the Protection of Cultural Assets dated 13.05.2016 and numbered 5143, the Late Roman Agora North Portico and Seating Steps restoration project was started in 2016 and completed in 2017. The damaged and missing parts of the sitting steps were completed with the original step blocks found during the excavations carried out in this area in previous years and carried to the classification. Due to the insufficiency of the original step blocks, after the analysis of the samples taken from the travertine quarries around the ancient city of Tripolis, the missing parts were completed with the blocks most suitable for the original blocks. With the completion of the missing step blocks of the crepidoma, travertines suitable for the promenade were placed in their original places.
Around 350-360 AD, the columns and statue bases collapsed southward on the north tribune and courtyard of the agora due to a great earthquake, the effects of which were also seen in the cities of the region (Laodicea, Hierapolis). At the beginning of the 4th century AD, column bases, marble column drums and capitals were placed on the stylobate made of travertine, again using travertine. Some of the columns and capitals collapsed due to the earthquake have fractures, abrasions and wear and tear caused by falling.
Most of these negative effects caused by the earthquake have been eliminated by restoration works. The columns, some of which were damaged, were reintegrated by applying the traditional completion process in order to restore the integrity of the portico in its original design.
After the placement of the North Portico Seating Steps and the blocks belonging to the promenade area, the joint mortars between the blocks lost their binding properties due to sanding, so the joints were emptied and filled again with the original mortar of the analyzed building. In addition to these operations, the process of fixing the statue feet placed in the columned galleries and between the columns of the North Portico of the Agora to their original places was also completed.
2.2 Agora South Portico
The South Portico of the Agora is located between the city wall built on the north side of the Colonnaded Street and the south tribune that forms the southern border of the agora. The east of the south portico, which is 5 m wide and 38 m long east-west, is bounded by a later wall dating to the 6th century AD, which cuts this area vertically in the north-south direction.
Probably after the agora portico lost its function, the thin and long corridor was divided by walls built with a simple knitting technique and used as workshops. In addition, the usage area was expanded by placing benches inside the workshops. The benches built with tea stone, travertine, marble and onyx fragments, rubble stones, terracotta brick fragments, earth-weighted lime mortar have lost their form over time and partially lost their quality. With the restoration works started in 2017, the stone weave forming the benches will gain an appearance close to the original by using the original material.
2.3 Early Byzantine Church 4
Uncovered during the 2016 excavations and designed by the excavation team, the Early Byzantine Church 4 (EBK4) Restoration Project was approved by the Aydın Regional Board for the Protection of Cultural Assets with the provisions dated 07.04.2017 and numbered 6373, and the responsibility for the implementation of the anastylosis projects prepared for the restoration was given to the excavation directorate.
The building is entered via Hierapolis Street. The rectangular structure is located between the Early Byzantine city wall in the south and the Arched Building in the north in the east-west direction. To the east of the building; there are adjacent order tabernas built on the North Portico of the Colonnaded Street. The building, which is among the central planned churches, has a single nave. Starting from the west, the sections of the church include, first the atrium, then the square-planned narthex, then the single nave extending in the east-west direction and the naos. There is an elliptical center to the east of the naos and an apse at the end of the center.
The upper covering system of the building has completely collapsed and there is no roof system at present. However, the upper cover of the apse section is a barrel vault, the central elliptical dome of the naos section, and the upper roof system of the rectangular planned section in the east-west direction in the naos section is thought to be a barrel vault on the inside and a hipped roof on the outside. The upper cover of the narthex section is thought to be a barrel vault in the north-south direction and a hipped roof on the outside.
The restoration work started with the examination of the existing condition of the building, the causes of damage were investigated and the application methods that would provide the best protection with the least intervention were determined. The dead layers on the walls and doors were cleaned and suitable areas for restoration were created.
The joint mortars, which lost their binding properties by becoming sandy, were filled again with the mortar analyzed after being emptied. Some of the frescoes exposed on the body walls of the building were repaired. Thus, the deterioration and disintegration of these frescoes were prevented.
Surface cleaning was carried out in order to prevent the contamination of the fresco surfaces over time. After the border work and cleaning works, a mixture of sepiolite and paper pulp was prepared to remove the salinization on the surface. The mixture was applied to the surface and cleaned with deionized water.
2.4 Tabernae
The tabernas, which are located east of the Early Byzantine Church 4, between the Colonnaded Street and the Arched Building and continue along the street, were placed on an area of 7x12 meters. The body walls of the building were raised using mudbrick on stone material. There are colorful frescoes divided into panels on the wall. During the 2017 restoration works, surface cleaning, border and injection practice were carried out on the frescoes on the walls of the Taberna in order to eliminate the damage caused by moisture and salt caused by rainwater over time.
2.5 Arched Structure
Built to the north of the Early Byzantine Church 4 and the tabernas to the east, the Arched Building extends in east-west direction and has a rectangular form. Built in the Late Hellenistic-Early Roman Period, but with a second phase of use in the 4th century A.D., the Arched Structure consists of a series of 15 arches and ceiling blocks made of large cut stones above the arches. During the 2017 restoration works, the surface of the plaster remains, which remained intact on the north and south walls of the Arched Structure and whose protection and repair works were completed to a great extent, was cleaned of the contamination and moss layer that had formed on the surface over time. In addition, in order to eliminate the damage caused by the rainwater flowing from the upper cover of the benches leaning against the northern wall of the Arched Building and to prevent possible damage, mortar suitable for the original mud mortar was prepared and the spilled parts were repaired.
2.6 Sanctuary
Among the public spaces built in the city center, the sanctuary is one of the most important structures since its architectural elements were uncovered in situ. To the south of the building is the city assembly and a second agora in the form of a theatron, while a monumental fountain, built in the 2nd century AD and animated with sculptures, borders the east. Although the construction of the sanctuary dates back to the 2nd century AD, it continued to be used with minor structural changes in order to eliminate the damages caused by the 494 AD earthquake.
At the end of 2016, the Tripolis Ancient City State Agora / Sacred Area Porticoes Restoration Project, which was approved by the permition of the Aydın Regional Board for the Protection of Cultural Assets dated 16.12.2016 and numbered 5849, was initiated in a small area after the evaluation of the technical data suitable for the project and the examination of the current situation. The 2nd century A.D. walls of the North Portico wall stones of the Sanctuary, which were destroyed by the earthquake, were moved from the places where they were classified on the basis of anastylosis, and capping was applied to a part of the wall with mortar suitable for the qualities of the original mortar without disturbing the original condition of the wall. The parts of the joint mortar that lost their binding properties by becoming sandy and the mortar between the deteriorated joints were emptied and renewed with the original mortar of the building.
3. Landscaping and cleaning works
Between 11.01.2017 - 15.06.2017 and 23.06.2017 - 15.08.2017, after obtaining permits for excavation, sondage and restoration works, the cleaning of the natural vegetation that has formed over time in and around the civil and public buildings built in the city center has started. The aim of the work is to enable visitors to the city to make their visits on the sightseeing route in a comfortable and safe way and to eliminate the fire hazard caused by the dense vegetation around the buildings. In this context; landscaping and cleaning works were carried out in Mosaic House and its surroundings, Churches, Shops, Colonnaded Street, Hierapolis Street, State Agora / Sacred Area, Agora North and South Sitting Steps, Arched Structure, Vaulted Structure, Podium Structure, Granarium, Monumental Fountain, east gate of the ruins.
In addition, 17 trucks (680 tons) of soil were taken from the area about 100 m. west of the Bouleuterion, where the excavation soil unearthed during the 2016 excavations, and taken out of the city. Thus, the area where the soil will be dumped for the excavation soil to be unearthed during the 2017 excavations was prepared. In 2017, another work carried out in 2017, due to the insufficiency of the artifact storage in the Excavation House, where the artifacts for study and analysis were sorted, the foundations of the artifact storage, which can meet the need in an area of approximately 100 m2, were laid by the Buldan Municipality in the backyard of the excavation house.
4. PUBLICATION STUDIES
In addition to the joint publication studies carried out with scientists from different disciplines regarding the finds identified during the excavations in 2016-2017 and before, the Institutional Infrastructure Research Project No. 2016KRM009 submitted to Pamukkale University, Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit under the direction of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bahadır Duman was completed and the scientific information and other results obtained at the end of the project process were published in the book titled "B. Duman (ed), Tripolis Ad Maeandrum I: Tripolis Researches, Istanbul, 2017". At all stages of this project, doctoral, graduate and undergraduate students were involved in an interdisciplinary research for a whole year and gained knowledge and experience for such scientific projects.