In northern Turkey's Bartın one can find amazing scenes and spectacles as beautiful waves of the Black Sea wash up against a 3,000-year-old fortress in northern Turkey's Bartın, where comprehensive cleaning work is set to begin to clear tree roots from the castle due to them damaging the historical structure.
Many trees grow on the walls of the historical Amasra Fortress, which stands out with its Genoa crests, eagle and ox-head-like figures, and the structure in which medieval defense systems can be preserved to a certain extent.
The castle, which has been kept alive with renovations during the Byzantine, Genoese, Ottoman and the Republic of Turkey periods, has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List in 2013 under the framework of "Trading Posts and Fortifications on Genoese Trade Routes from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea."
The stones of the fortress have started to displace though, because of tree roots.
Subsequently, it was decided to eliminate the negative effects of fig and laurel trees as well as the naturally grown ivy in the historical castle in Amasra.
The plant cleaning works which are set to be carried out with a special method by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums, are planned to start in June.
Amasra Mayor, Recai Çakır, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the district is among the most popular tourist attraction sites with its 3,000-year history, numerous historical artifacts as well as natural beauties.
Noting that the Amasra Fortress is among the important historical structures of the country, Çakır pointed out that the trees growing on the walls continue to cause the castle's stones to drop as well as obscure the view of the historical structures.
Çakır said that with each passing year, they saw the trees grow thicker, until eventually, they concealed the castle walls, causing collapses in various places, and also the stones to fall apart.
"We, as the municipality, have done the cleaning of the trees on the castle walls, which can be seen from the Küçük Harbor area, many times. The cleaning we do is to cut the trees from the bottom and this causes the trees to grow thicker because the root cannot be reached."
Explaining that the clearing of the castle walls, which can be seen especially from the Küçük Harbor and Büyük Harbor locations, from the trees, requires special practice, Çakır noted that they shared the situation with Gökhan Yazgı, the General Manager of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's Cultural Heritage and Museums department, who came to the district two weeks ago.
"We visited some of our historical assets, especially the Amasra Fortress, with our esteemed general manager. We explained that tree roots damage the Amasra Fortress. So, he gave instructions for plant cleaning to be done in a way that is sensitive to history, the environment and the health of the castle as soon as possible."
Çakır pointed out that a comprehensive cleaning work was carried out in the castle last year under the supervision of the Amasra Museum Directorate.
"Of course, the tree problem in these castles is experienced not only in Amasra, but also in many other places. Yazgı, who visited our district, is very knowledgeable about this issue and talked about the new methods applied. Plant cleaning will be carried out in Amasra with a special method sensitive to history, which will cause the least damage to the castle. We will carry our castle to the future as a cultural heritage with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Directorate of Culture and Tourism and the district governorship."
Çakır noted that the plant roots will be subject to mechanical and chemical processes on the Küçük Harbor, Büyük Harbor, the castle entrance, the wall base at Kemere Bridge's pillar and entrance, and the inner wall of the castle, thus creating a beautifully clean appearance.
