Mayor of Konya Metropolitan Municipality Uğur İbrahim Altay and Mayor of Karatay Hasan Kılca met with members of the press in the ancient city of Savatra, where excavations are ongoing.

After the inspection tour of the Roman Theater and the mosaic area, İlker Işık, Head of Excavations in the Ancient City of Savatra, shared information about the excavation works. Stating that the works continue with the support of Konya Metropolitan Municipality and Karatay Municipality, Işık said, “In the first place, we started excavations in the theater and we are starting to reveal the seating steps during the excavation works. Here we also came across a large mosaic floor on an area of about 160 square meters. The mosaic is generally intact. According to the finds, it offers examples of late Rome and early Byzantium. We were very happy to encounter the mosaic structure, which is one of the symbols of wealth and nobility and the power of the city. Hopefully, with the support of both our Metropolitan Municipality and Karatay Municipality, we intend to bring important works to our city and country in terms of cultural heritage.”

‘OUR GOAL IS TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF DESTINATIONS’

Karatay Mayor Hasan Kılca said, “This is our oily stale neighborhood. An area located about 70 kilometers from the center. It is also on the way to Cappadocia and is one of the places frequented by tourism. Our goal is to take our city, which is already a brand in tourism, further. In this sense, to increase the number of our destinations. Hopefully, this place will be a new destination for tourism. We are witnessing very valuable findings in the ancient city of Savatra. This is a very special area. We will continue our excavation work with the support of our Metropolitan Municipality. I would like to thank our excavation team, our teachers and the Mayor of the Metropolitan Municipality for their support.”

‘WE CONTINUE TO CONTRIBUTE TO OUR CITY’

Konya Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Uğur İbrahim Altay, on the other hand, stated that they continue to contribute to Konya with the understanding of Konya Model Municipality. Reminding that Konya is a 10-thousand-year-old city and that it has been one of the important settlement areas of people in every period, starting from Çatalhöyük, Mayor Altay said that they are very happy that the findings of this are revealed in the excavations carried out day by day.

Konya’nın bir sanayi ve tarım şehri olduğunu ama son dönemde yapılan çalışmalarla artık bir turizm şehri olma noktasında hızla ilerlediğini vurgulayan Başkan Altay, “Geçtiğimiz günlerde Kültür ve Turizm Bakanımız Konya ziyaretinde ifade etti; Konya’nın turizmden aldığı payın artırılması, bu vesilesiyle insanların kazançlarının artırılması, yeni istihdam alanlarının oluşturulması ve Konya ekonomisinin gelişmesiyle ilgili ciddi bir süreç yürütüyoruz. Bu süreci, Turizm Master Planı çerçevesinde tüm Türkiye’ye örnek bir şekilde bakanlığımızın desteğiyle yürütüyoruz. Birçok şehirden turizmle ilgili konularda insanlar Konya’da ne yapıldığını görmek için yaptığımız işleri ziyaret ediyor. Çatalhöyük’te çok önemli bir karşılama merkezi yapıyoruz. Yine Boncuklu Höyük’te Karatay Belediyemiz bir çalışma yürütüyor. Selçuklu Belediyemiz Sille’de bir çalışma yürütüyor. Karatay Belediyemizin Lavanta Bahçeleri, Meram Belediyemizin Meram Bağları var, Büyükşehir olarak Mevlana civarında bir dönüşüm gerçekleştiriyoruz. Bunların hepsi bir üst ölçek planın parçaları olarak yürüyor. İnşallah yakın zamanda sizlere bu yapmış olduğumuz işleri, büyük resmin bir parçası olarak da anlatmayı planlıyoruz” açıklamasını yaptı.

‘KONYA’NIN EN ÖNEMLİ MARKALARINDAN BİRİ OLACAK’

Mayor Altay, who thanked Karatay Mayor Kılca and Excavation Director İlker Işık for their efforts in the ongoing excavations in the ancient city of Savatra, said, “Very important artifacts were unearthed here in a very short time. In addition, there is a very intense support of the people of the neighborhood, especially our headman. Hopefully, very good things will come out of this. When our Mayor of Karatay first brought us here, he told us so excitedly that we decided that we should definitely be involved. We work together with our Metropolitan Municipality, Karatay Municipality, Selçuk University and Museum Directorate. We were all excited about the ancient theater that emerged, the last mosaics found, and the first stone relief in which the expression Turks was mentioned before 1071. We continue our financing in excavation activities. Hopefully, we will find much more beautiful things in the coming years. Savatra will be one of the most important brands in Konya from now on.”

While there is a large mound in the ancient city of Savatra, a military garrison city established on the eastern outskirts of Bozdağ National Park within the borders of Karatay district of Konya, its history goes back to 5 thousand years ago.

The inscription in which the first Turkish name was mentioned in Anatolia was found in the ancient city of Savatra.

In the works started in 2021, excavations are carried out on the Roman theater and mosaic areas with the support of Konya Metropolitan Municipality and Karatay Municipality.