Treasure hunters destroy historic structure in Şile

Taking advantage of measures against the coronavirus outbreak, treasure hunters have destroyed a historical building, which is believed to be a Byzantine-era cistern, in Istanbul's Şile district.

The stones and bricks of the historical building in Bozgoca Bay were dismantled. It was seen that a five-meter-long tunnel was excavated to destroy the structure. The ropes and buckets used to remove the Earth were still at the site of the excavation. Also, the gloves on the tree branches grabbed attention.

Architect Bahadır Başaran, who is a resident in Şile, saw that the excavation was carried out in the region where the historical building is located. Seeing the tunnel excavated while walking, Başaran said, "I have been living here for about five years. This is my hiking route. I already discovered this place two years ago. I applied to the Board of the Monuments for the registration of this place. I think they did what they should have done. These processes were on paper. I was very upset when I learned that there was excavation here last week. Because even if it is registered on paper, these works will continue unless the municipality and the necessary institutions protect it."

"This is an important cultural heritage. The brick and stone workmanship here were unique to the Byzantine period. Our Ottoman masters also learned from the Byzantine masters. For example, there is this workmanship in important mosques in Fatih and Aksaray. We know that this is Byzantine workmanship. I think this event happened a week ago. I have no idea whether it is night, day or how," he added.

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