Excavations at the ancient city of Olba near Mersin

Neither the name of Olba nor the modern name of Uzuncaburç rings any bell with me. The city has been in the news lately because of the excavations that are scheduled to start this year (2021).

Olba is located off the beaten track, deep into the Taurus Mountains, roughly some 30 kilometers from Silifke. The oldest remains are visible down the deep ravine and seem to go back to the 6^th century BC, when Olba was the capital of the small kingdom of Neo-Hittite Pirindu, ruled by a certain Appuašu. The ruins of Hellenistic Olba are to be found about four kilometers further west and are blending in with those of the Roman Diocaesarea from the 1^st century AD.

The Acropolis was rightfully situated on top of a hill, 1040 meters above sea level. This made it an excellent observation post to see the enemy approaching from afar. The aqueduct and the cisterns that collected and distributed the precious drinking water to the Nympheums and onward are still very present. The water was taken from the Lamos River and was led through tunnels and over an aqueduct. This 25-meter-high aqueduct ran across the gorge of the Devils’ Valley and is 150 meters long. It was, in fact, constructed under Septimius Severus. This same water supply served to irrigate the surrounding fields.

Most of the city’s remains date from Roman times. The most striking monument is the rather well-preserved theater with a two-storey-high skene andt could seat 3,000 people. This is where the excavations will start later this year because much of the building stones are lying around after the walls collapsed as a result of an earthquake.

We also find an impressive Colonnaded Street, almost one kilometer long and still lined with many intact columns. The temple of Zeus has remarkably kept its temenos and monumental entrance gate. An inscription on the surrounding wall has revealed that Seleucos I Nicator was responsible for repairing the roof of this temple. These lines, by the way, confirm that Olba was already a sacred city in his days!

There also is a temple dedicated to Tyche, two city gates known as the Ceremonial Gate (7 meters high) and the Victory Gate, a great number of workshops and residential buildings. Outside the city limits lies the necropolis with a wide assortment of rock-cut graves, sarcophagi and other funeral monuments.

Rather than focusing on the archaeological treasures which Olba/Diocaesarea may reveal, Turkish authorities keep insisting on the tourism. If the site is worthwhile – as everything tends to indicate – tourists will come anyway