Following 78 years of excavations, the work on the arena of the 5,000-seat stadium in the ancient city of Perge in Antalya, southern Türkiye, one of the most organized Roman cities in Anatolia, has been completed.

It is known that the ancient city of Perge in Antalya's Aksu district was once the capital of the Pamphylia region.

Excavations have been carried out since 1946 in the city, which is famous for its marble sculptures as well as being one of the most regular Roman period cities in Anatolia.

The ancient city, where important monumental structures in the city center have been unearthed, opening the doors of the past with its towers, theater, stadium, baths, monumental fountains and colonnaded avenue, has been on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List since 2009.

In Perge, where excavation, repair and restoration works continue to show its former splendor, the works in the arena area of the 30,000-seat stadium have been completed.

Professor Sedef Çokay Kepçe, head of excavations from Istanbul University's Faculty of Letters, Department of Archaeology, told Andalou Agency (AA) that, Perge, where traces of human remains have been found since the fifth millennium B.C, is dated to the ancient Roman period with its streets, rows of shops, fountains, baths and schools.

Kepçe stated that the city attracts attention with its magnificent structures and sculptures filling the Antalya Museum and that excavation works have continued in different areas for 78 years.

Stating that one of the most important work areas in recent years is the 30,000-seat stadium area, Dr. Kepçe said: "Excavation work had started in the arena. Under the leadership of the museum, we were able to complete the excavations this year.

"We uncovered an arena for 5,000 people, which is quite properly seen in the stadium. Now we will gradually expand the excavation works towards other areas of the stadium, the stadium sits on vaults, we want to empty the soil filling here and bring the stadium to the city as a new structure."

Stating that they came across findings that shed light on history in the area, Kepçe said: ''Especially in the middle of the arena, square-shaped stone blocks with pits inside are remarkable. The blocks are also encountered from time to time in theaters. We think that these are blocks used for battles with wild animals.''

''Our friends are preparing an article about this. When it is completed, we will introduce it to the scientific world. At the same time, we aim to continue excavations in the area inside the stadium structure. We plan to complete the stadium within this year.''

Drilling underway in harbor

Mentioning that certain research projects have been initiated in addition to the excavations in the city, Kepçe said: ''The city has a harbor that is expected to be on the edge of the Antalya's Aksu River, which has made the city a trade port since very early times.''

''We are in a project together with other ancient cities in the region to understand this and to see the coastline. Academics from the Ege University Geography Department are carrying out drilling studies on the coast to understand how far this coastline approaches.''

Stating that various leaf fossils were discovered during the examinations on the stones in the ancient city's structures, Kepçe said: ''Many of the structures that make up the city were built from travertine blocks. These blocks are relatively soft textured stones.''

''There are fossilized remains of leaves of various plants on them. We are trying to determine how many species these leaf fossils are. When we determine this, we plan to carry out a climate study here.''

''Our academics from Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa have been trying to determine which types of leaves exist here for four years. When we detect about 20 species, we will be able to carry out a climate study. We found 16 of these 20 species,'' he added.

On the other hand, Kepçe noted that the technical works initiated in the past years to restore the flow of water from Kestros, the fountain of the ancient city dating back to the A.D. second century, are continuing.