Tourism in Turkey: “Iznik Roman Theater” ready for visitors

The Iznik Roman Theater, built in the 2nd century BC in the Iznik district of Bursa, is being prepared for the use of the country to attract more tourists. According to the statement made by the Bursa Metropolitan Municipality, Iznik town, founded by Antigonius Monophthalmos, one of the commanders of the Macedonian King Alexander the Great, in 316 BC, clearly bears the traces of Bithynia, Rome, Byzantium, Seljuk and Ottoman civilizations.

The theater in the district, where excavation works have been continuing under the sponsorship of Bursa Metropolitan Municipality since 2015, is also among the most magnificent surviving works of Anatolia belonging to the Roman period. It is known that the theater, which is the only architectural example in Turkey due to the fact that it was built on a flat area and raised by vaults, was built by the historian and writer Pliny (also governor of Bithnia) upon orders of the Roman Emperor Trajan.

The theater, which also hosted gladiator fights for a while, was used as a religious space when the theater was banned after Christianity. The structure, which was damaged and repaired during the great earthquakes of 358, 362 and 368, was sacrificed for the defense of Iznik, while the parts removed from the theater were used to strengthen the walls.

With the permission of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the excavations at the Roman Theater, where the work first began in 1980, have been carried out by a team headed by the Department of Archaeology of Dokuz Eylül University since 2015, with the commissioning of the Metropolitan Municipality. The excavations carried out under the direction of the Iznik Museum Directorate were carried out by Dokuz September University Department of Archaeology Faculty Member Assoc. Dr. Aygün October Meriç.

“IT WILL BE POSSIBLE TO SEE ALL ITS LAYERS IN ONE STRUCTURE”

Dr. Meriç whose opinions are included in the statement said that according to historical records, the Roman Theater was built in the 2nd century. Meriç stated that during the excavations they found ceramics belonging to the Ion Colonization period, which dates back to the 6th century BC, and quoted the following: “Even before the theater was built, the existence of life was detected here. There is not only theater here. There is before, there is after, there is a church, we have 8 Ottoman tile ovens. There is a continuous use of this area at a stage that passed from the 6th century BC to the 17th century BC.”