The Ancient Greek city of Bargylia, dating back to the 5th century BC and located in Asia Minor near Gulluk Bay on the northern coast of the Bodrum Peninsula, has been on the market for at least ten years with no buyers emerging.
“A first degree archaeological site, facing the Bird Heaven lake near the Bogazici village, with full sea and lake view,” the first advertisement in 2015 proclaimed. Since then, the ancient city has remained in limbo, as it has been neither successfully sold to a private buyer nor officially expropriated by the state.
The initial price of 22 million Turkish Liras (approximately €8 million or $10 million USD at the time) did not attract an acceptable buyer. The city remained on the private market and was re-listed multiple times in the following years with a significantly reduced price.
The Ancient Greek city of Bargylia is in private hands
The land, which encompasses the ancient city ruins (including the theater, necropolis, and fortification walls), remains privately owned by multiple shareholders, as it has been since 1927. This private status is the core issue, as it prevents the Turkish government from launching a large-scale, official archaeological excavation and protection effort.
On their behalf, Turkish archaeologists have repeatedly called the country’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism to expropriate numerous archaeological sites, such as the one in Bargylia in order to ensure their protection due to the state’s inability to guarantee the security thereof.
“Unfortunately, due to an insufficient budget, archaeological sites are only expropriated during excavations or urban projects,” Binnur Celebi, a senior member of the Archaeologists Association, underlined, warning at the same time that some owners may seek to downgrade their site’s status, aiming to open it for construction.
“Private ownership of such sites is obstructing archaeological work. However, the person or persons who acquire those sites can absolutely not conduct any construction activities,” he added.
The Ancient Greek city of Bargylia
The city is said to have been founded by the Greek hero Bellerophon. According to the myth, he named it after his companion, Bargylos, who was killed by a kick from Bellerophon’s winged horse, Pegasus.
Bargylia was an important religious center. It was famous for the Temple of Artemis Kindyàs, the city’s patron goddess. Ancient sources, notably the geographer Strabo, record a local belief that “neither rain nor snow” ever fell upon the statue of the goddess. Artemis Kindyàs and Pegasus often appeared on the city’s coinage.
The city served as a key naval base. King Philip V of Macedon famously wintered his fleet at Bargylia after being blockaded by the combined Pergamene and Rhodian fleets. After the Roman victory over Macedon, Bargylia was one of the cities liberated and granted freedom by the Romans, a significant event at the time.
Since the site has not officially been excavated due to its private status, the ruins visible today are what remain on the surface. Despite the lack of professional excavation, the surviving monuments are extensive:
- Defensive walls: Substantial remnants of the fortification walls from the 4th century BC and Hellenistic period are clearly visible.
- The theater: The remains of a theater or odeon (a smaller, roofed theater) are present, carved into the hillside.
- Acropolis: The highest part of the city, it would have housed its key defensive and religious buildings.
- Temple ruins: Remains of temples and other monumental structures, including scattered fluted columns, are strewn across the site.
- Roman and Byzantine remains: These include the ruins of a Roman bath and a necropolis (cemetery) dating to the Byzantine era.
One of Bargylia’s most important sculptural findings is no longer at the site. A large, Hellenistic-period tomb monument dedicated to the sea monster Scylla once stood by the harbor.
The larger-than-life marble sculpture of Scylla and associated fragments were acquired in the 19th century and are now part of the collection at the British Museum in London.
