Ministry reports TL 300,000 allocated to Aizonai excavation in 2011

Responding to a written parliamentary question from Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Kütahya deputy Alim Işık, Günay stated on May 3 that the ministry allocated TL 300,000 to the excavations being conducted by the Culture and Tourism Ministry and Pamukkale University in the ancient city of Aizonai.

Günay also noted that the German Archaeological Institute first started the excavation of Aizonai in 1926 and that the institute conducted the excavations until 2010 on behalf of the ministry. He added that in 2011, the excavations began to be conducted by a team led by Associate Professor Elif Özer from Pamukkale University.

He noted that as a result of the excavations, many important historical artifacts and buildings have been unearthed, including a temple to Zeus, two agoras, a stadium, theater, a round building in the market, a late Roman colonnaded street, a necropolis, bridges, baths and an aqueduct.

Underlining that the ministry will continue with the excavation, conservation and restoration work in the ancient city of Aizonai, Günay also pointed out that artifacts found during the excavations have been preserved at the Kütahya Museum.

The ancient city of Aizonai, located in the central Aegean region, dates back 5,000 years and boasts traces of the Phrygian, Roman, Byzantine and Seljuk periods. The name of the city is believed to have been derived from the mythological hero Azan, the son of Zeus' daughter Erato and the Arcadian King Arkas. It is also possible that Aizonai received its name from the Aizanitis, related to the Phrygians, who once made Aizonai their main settlement. Aizonai is one of 12 settlements in Kütahya and was called Çavdarhisar during the time of the Seljuks.