29 Apr 2021 İzmir Will Be A Model City For Reviving Underwater Cultural Heritage
İzmir Will Be A Model City For Reviving Underwater Cultural Heritage
A signature ceremony was held for the project to be realized in cooperation with our Agency and Dokuz Eylül University in order to reveal and protect the underwater cultural heritage in the İzmir Bay, and to bring it to cultural tourism.
In the project, which was initiated with the signing ceremony held on the Koca Piri Reis ship with the participation of İzmir Governor Yavuz Selim Köşger, Dokuz Eylül University Rector Prof. Dr. Nükhet Hotar and academicians, underwater cultural assets will be identified on the coasts of İzmir, which has a speciality in terms of underwater cultural heritage. In addition, suggestions will be developed to bring these assets to underwater cultural tourism, to protect and exhibit them on site.
Within the scope of the project, underwater cultural assets will be detected in field studies to be carried out in Güzelbahçe, Urla, Karaburun and Foça districts, photographs of the finds will be provided where they are located, and sunken areas will be mapped with three-dimensional visualization. In the studies that will start in line with the permission to be obtained from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Under the leadership of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Harun Özdaş from the Faculty of Marine Sciences and Technology Institute, Assist. Prof. Dr. Nilhan Kızıldağ and Res. Assist. Özkan Özel will take charge.
The area, which is considered to be the richest region of the Aegean and the Mediterranean in terms of underwater archeology, has the potential to be a diving area for tourism and sports purposes, underwater ruins and an archeopark due to the presence of many shipwrecks with archaeological value. While benefiting this potential of the area with the study, the findings and data obtained will be able to form the basis for the establishment of a “Naval War History Museum” in Izmir in the medium and long term.
The project is aimed to contribute to the development of the blue economy in our region, together with other studies carried out by our Agency to make use of the potential of the sea and coasts within the framework of the blue growth perspective.