A Roman bath has been found at the construction site of a shopping center in İzmir’s Konak district, the Doğan news agency reported on Tuesday.
The bath was discovered below the 120-year-old Mustafa Paşa business center in Konak, owned by the General Directorate of Foundations. The business center was put out to bid in 2016. The company that won the tender began work at the site in June 2016 for the construction of a new shopping mall. Heavy equipment then unearthed some historic artifacts at the site.
Construction in the area, which is a third degree archeological protected zone, has been halted.
Examinations by the İzmir Regional Directorate of Cultural and Natural Heritage in the area have revealed that the artifacts are from a Roman bath. The directorate decided that more excavation should be carried out in the area in order to uncover all the artifacts at the site.
In the meantime, head of the Archeologists’ Foundation in İzmir Associate Professor Ahmet Uhri said it is no longer possible to construct a building on the site where a Roman bath has been discovered.
He said the area could serve only as an archeological park following the discovery of the all the artifacts in the vicinity.