8 October 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Turkish Ancient Cemetery will be İntroduced to the World

We would not be exaggerating if we say that Ahlat, which is a naive district of Bitlis on the shore of Lake Van surrounded by Nemrut and Süphan mountains, is the entrance gate of the Turks to Anatolia. This historical district embraced many states and dynasties from the Urartians to the Ottomans due to its natural beauty and fertile plains. This region bears traces of all the civilizations it hosted in the past; Thus, the Seljuks named it “Kubbet-u Islam”, Ottomans “City of Ancestors” and the Evliya Celebi “City of Oghuzs”. The center of Old Ahlat is called Harabe-i şehir (Ruin-city).

Ahlat has turned into an open-air museum with its magnificent history. It is a huge open-air museum filled with castles, mosques, bridges, baths, and lodges from the Seljuks. The world’s largest Turkish-Islamic open-air cemetery is also located here. Time-defying tombstones and especially vaulted tombs make Ahlat a center of attraction.

The tombstones found in the Seljuk Square Cemetery are works of art decorated with reliefs, inscriptions, and motifs that shed light on the history of the region.

These Seljuk tombstones in eastern Turkey are getting prepared to be introduced to the world as part of a project.

A 10-person team, including restorers and art historians from Italy, will join excavation works headed by Recai Karahan, a professor from Van Yüzüncü Yıl University, at the cemetery that has 8,103 tombs in a 210-decare area.



📣 Our WhatsApp channel is now LIVE! Stay up-to-date with the latest news and updates, just click here to follow us on WhatsApp and never miss a thing!!



Exhibitions will be opened in Ahlat and Italy with an introductory film on the cemetery and photos of tombstones, each of which is a historical artifact.

“The lichens on the stones are cleaned with hard work to reveal the rich decorations on the tombstones,” Mikail Ercek, curator at Ahlat Museum, told Anadolu Agency.

Seljuk Turks
A section of the cemeteries in Ahlat.

“The decorations revealed are handled with great delicacy. It’s impossible not to admire these tombstones,” said Ercek.

He said that nearly 200 of the tombstones are standing.

“This is the source for being the first artifact left by our ancestors in this tradition in Anatolia. It is possible to see the versions of the motifs here in different parts of Anatolia,” he said.

Use of new techniques

Necati Aktekin, coordinator of the project from the district governorship, said the project is intended to preserve cultural heritage.

“Our aim is to see the different restoration techniques used in Italy and show the techniques applied in Ahlat to create new techniques for restoration,” said Aktekin.

“In addition to promoting the Seljuk Cemetery abroad, we also aim to restore our stones and make them more qualified,” he added.

Related Articles

The ancient city of Karkamış “House of the Seal” brings a different perspective to the Hittite-Assyrian relations with its important finds

6 May 2022

6 May 2022

Historical artifacts discovered during excavations by Turkish and Italian teams in the ancient city of Karkamış (Carchemish) in southern Gaziantep...

An 8,200-year-old temple structure found in Çatalhöyük

6 September 2022

6 September 2022

An 8,200-year-old temple structure was found during the 30th excavation season of the excavations at Çatalhöyük, one of the first...

15 new sculptures discovered in Turkey’s sculpture paradise Yesemek

8 December 2021

8 December 2021

Archaeologists discovered 15 new sculptures during recent digs around the Yesemek Open Air Museum and Sculpture Workshop in the Islahiye...

In Turkey’s Gedikkaya Cave, a stone figurine was discovered inside a 16,500-year-old votive pit

17 December 2022

17 December 2022

A stone figurine was discovered in a 16500-year-old votive pit belonging to the Epi-paleolithic period, the transition phase from the...

10,000-year-old Sculptures and Figurines holding Phallus of the Taş Tepeler in the southeast Turkey

17 June 2022

17 June 2022

One of the common features of male depictions with similar features found in the region called Taş Tepeler (Stone Hills),...

14,000-year-old settlement discovered in western Turkey

26 November 2021

26 November 2021

During the rescue excavation carried out in a cave in Dikili, İzmir, in western Turkey, 14 thousand-year-old stone tools and...

Mystery of the 1,700-year-old Mosaic Solved: The Medallion in the Mosaic uncovered to be the Symbol of a Roman Military Unit

10 August 2024

10 August 2024

The mystery of the 1,700-year-old mosaic, which was found during excavations in Amasya province in northern Turkey 11 years ago...

One of the World’s Oldest Streets Unearthed at Canhasan 3 in Türkiye, Dating Back 9,750 Years

26 August 2025

26 August 2025

Nearly 10,000 years ago, long before the rise of cities, a community in central Anatolia was already experimenting with new...

Who Are The Sea Peoples?

13 February 2021

13 February 2021

Who are the Sea Peoples, which are seen as the beginning of the dark age, and where did they come...

Archaeologists Discover 8600-year-old Bread at Çatalhöyük May be the Oldest Bread in the World

5 March 2024

5 March 2024

Archaeologists have discovered about 8,600-year-old bread at Çatalhöyük, a Neolithic settlement in central Turkey. Çatalhöyük is noteworthy because it is...

In the ancient city of Syedra: a unique mosaic with the 12 labors of Heracles depicted on a single panel found

25 July 2022

25 July 2022

During the excavations in the ancient city of Syedra in the Alanya district of Antalya, approximately 164 square meters of...

Hidden Gods of Kurul Castle: Dionysus and Pan Figurines Capture Spotlight as Dig Resumes

10 July 2025

10 July 2025

Excavations are set to resume next week at the ancient Kurul Castle in Ordu, the first scientifically excavated archaeological site...

Unprecedented 1800-year-old marble bathtub recovered in Turkey

23 April 2022

23 April 2022

The 1800-year-old marble bathtub, which was seized when it was about to be sold by historical artifact smugglers in Aydın’s...

Restoration of Türkiye’s 2,000-year-old King’s Daughter Roman bath nears completion

1 August 2023

1 August 2023

The 2,000-year-old Roman bathhouse Basilica Therma or King’s Daughter in Türkiye’s central Yozgat province is nearing the final stages of...

Ritualistic Dog Burials Associated with the Goddess Gula Unearthed at the Harran Archaeological Site in Southeastern Türkiye

15 December 2024

15 December 2024

Excavations at the Harran archaeological site in Şanlıurfa, one of the world’s oldest settlements and listed on UNESCO’s Temporary World...