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Buildings consisting of marble and granite type natural stone were
erected in the Western Anatolian centers of habitation in the roughly
one thousand years between the 6th century BC and the 4th century
AD. These examples show that Western Anatolia was the homeland of stone working. Some of the marble quarries on Marmara Island
(Proconnesos) and Afyon-Iscehisar (Dokimeion) have a past dating
back to the 3rd or 4th centuries BC.
The columns extracted from the granite quarries in the vicinity of Cigri
Dag (Ezine) on the Biga peninsula, as well as being used in local monuments
of the Roman period were also sent, from the 2nd century AD
onwards, to centers in the Near East, North Africa and other parts of
the Mediterranean. Granites to be seen in the old quarries of the Yedi
Tafllar district of Ezine KoçaklI Köyü were used in the Ephesus Agora
and the Basilica of St Mark in Venice (Photo 3). Certain researchers
believe that the material extracted from granite quarries on Cigri Dag
were used in the erection of the Alexandria Troas in the ancient period
(8th century BC).The oldest bluish-white marble quarries in Northwest
Anatolia worked from the earliest times up to the present day are those
on Marmara Island (Proconnesos). The Sea of Marmara derives its
name from "Marmora", the Greek word for marble. Light is thrown
on the methods of work employed at that time in the ancient quarries
in the vicinity of Saraylar Köyü in the north of the island. Other
important quarries of the ancient period are to be found in the vicinity
of Afyon-Iscehisar (Dokimeion). In addition to milk-white sculpture marble
with fine crystals (Afyon Cream) the quarries in this region also yield
marbles of various colours and design, which were shipped from the
harbour at Ephesus to as far as North Africa (Photo 4)
Other quarries in Western Anatolia from which marble was extracted in
ancient times were those in the vicinity of the village of Geyre at Aydin-
Karasu. The blocks of marble quarried here were used in the creation
of works of art and for the construction in other centers of habitation.
The masterpieces of sculpture from the 30,000 capacity stadium and
the 10,000 capacity theatre unearthed at Aphrodisias in the last forty
years and now exhibited in the local museum were created from the
white and gray-white marble obtained from these quarries.
The marbles used in the city of Ephesus were obtained from the still
active Belevi quarries at a distance of 12 km.
The natural stone mosaics unearthed since 1992 in the ancient city of
Zeugma (Belkis) indicate the level of taste and economic structure
developed under Roman hegemony in Anatolia in the early centuries AD.
With the disintegration of the Roman Empire (4th century AD) and the
establishment of the Eastern Roman Empire in Anatolia the creation of
imposing temples and statues belonging to the new monotheistic religion
entered a period of stagnation. In the Byzantine monotheistic period
sculpture was replaced by relief and decorative work. The use of
Marmara Island marbles was continued in a different form in the church
and monastery architecture of the 5th and 6th centuries.
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Stone block quarries and the remains of quarries worked in ancient
times in the vicinity of the borough of Saraylar at Viranköy on Marmara Island.
Ancient quarries in the Dangic Tepe district of Iscehisar, Afyon from
which blocks were cut by means of iron sheets in the Roman-Byzantine period
The earliest known underground marble block quarry in historical times.
Ancient remains in the Roman-Byzantine period stone block quarry at Taflkesen, Bilecik
Ancient and modern quarries seen together at Iscehisar (Dokimeion),
Afyon.
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