District on ancient city searching for new place

The ancient city of Sebastapolis, which remained under the Sulusaray district of the northern province of Tokat, expects the relocation of the district so that it can be fully unearthed.

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A large part of the ancient city of Sebastapolis, which has a history of 2,000 years, is located under the Sulusaray district, therefore, only a part of the ancient city has been unearthed until today.

While the residents of Sulusaray, which has a population of 3,500, live a life intertwined with history, the expropriation of the houses in the ancient city continues. Since most of the district is an archaeological site, it is not possible to make renovations to the houses.

Speaking to the state-run Anadolu Agency, Sulusaray Mayor Necmettin Coruk said that there were Roman and Byzantine ruins in the ancient city of Sebastapolis and that the city was an important settlement during the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods.

Coruk reminded that Charles, Prince of Wales, visited the ancient city twice to draw attention to the importance of the ancient city of Sebastapolis, which means "great magnificent city" in Latin, and that the excavation works, which started after the drilling work in 1986, were not continuing at the moment.

Coruk explained that excavation work was resumed in the ancient city after 22 years in 2013 and that until the last two years, excavations were carried out in cooperation with the Tokat Museum Directorate and Gaziosmanpaşa University.

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"Until the last two years, excavation work was carried out here with the budget of the Special Provincial Administration. Excavations were used to be carried out for about two months a year. With the enactment of the subcontractor law, it was reduced to 28 days,...