Excavations in the ancient city of Kaunos in Muğla province, Turkey, revealed a surprisingly well-preserved 3rd-century church. The site, originally used as a Roman health center, was later transformed into a religious space.
The church was found in an area close to an ancient walled monastery, part of an archaeological site included on UNESCO’s Tentative List of World Heritage Sites.
Hospital turned into church: what does the discovery mean?
The city of Kaunos attracts visitors from all over the world and is famous for its stone tombs, in particular for a theater with a capacity for 5,000 people – built more than 2,300 years ago. In addition, it houses basilicas, thermal baths, an agora and 1,300-year-old mosaics.
With the discovery of the church, a new dimension opens up in understanding the long and complex history of the ancient Turkish city.
Ufuk Çörtük, associate professor, head of excavations and member of the Department of Archeology at Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, explained that in recent years work has been focusing on a Late Antique complex located within the walled area of the monastery.
“As part of the Heritage for the Future Project, we continued excavations in the walled area of the monastery. Last year, we discovered instruments used in the field of medicine. This year, the increase in medical instruments caught our attention. Based on these materials, we can say that the first phase of this complex, dating back to the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, served as a health center or hospital,” Çörtük told the state-run Anadolu agency.
According to him, at that time it was common to have military hospitals that later evolved into civilian facilities.
He further explained that the Kaunos complex was made up of a courtyard surrounded by rooms, located close to the old port, and had architectural features similar to those of other Roman-era hospitals.
According to the expert, the church found was a hospital complex from the 3rd century.
“The 3rd-century hospital complex was transformed into a religious center during the Christian period, with this church dating back to the 6th century,” Çörtük highlighted.
The Kaunos complex spanned 12 centuries
According to the archaeological team, evidence of continuous use of the site over the centuries was also identifiedwith monastic structures and remains from the Islamic period. Among them, a coin from the Principality of Aydınoğulları (Aydınid Beylik), dating from the Turkish-medieval era.
Çörtük added that the Kaunos complex was in use from the 2nd century to the 14th century, going through four to five distinct phases. Which means that the place has followed religious changes and different cultural periods in the region for more than a thousand years.
According to ‘Archaeology Magazine’, the discovery of the church reinforces that Kaunos is one of the most important archaeological sites on the Anatolian peninsula (Asia Minor) and bears evidence of the transition from the Roman era to Christianity before Turkish rule.
