Two marble quarries, thought to be 2500 years old, were found in the Yatağan district of Muğla, where ancient excavations are often carried out, 10-15 kilometers away from the world’s largest marble ancient city. In the ancient marble quarries located on the Yatağan- Milas highway, among the pine forests, cut marble blocks and a fragmented column still exist. It is noteworthy that the marble quarries are very close to Stratonikeia and Lagina, the largest marble ancient city in the world, while the traces of cutting of marble blocks in the marble quarries of the ancient period remain 25 centuries. It has been announced that the pillars, statues, and marble used on the city walls, and tombs unearthed in the ancient city of Stratonikeia and Lagina all came from two marble quarries in the region. It has been learned that the columns weighing tons of tons at the northern entrance gate of the ancient city of Stratonikeia were processed in one piece and then transported from the quarry to the ancient city.
Historian-writer Tarcan Oğuz from Yatağan said, “The area we are in is the ancient city of Stratonikeia. The marble must have come from a nearby region. There are two ancient marble quarries in the Kozağaç District, Karaltı and Hatipderesi locations of Yatağan. The date of operation of the marble quarries here is thought to be 2500 years. The interesting thing is that these marbles are processed in the area where they are located and preserved here in a processed condition. While cutting, the horse hairs are tied together and the metal-cutting process is performed on them. Sand is also used. While the marbles processed in this way are brought to the ancient city, the deformed block marbles are left in the quarry area. Clean and processed marbles are placed here. Thus, this historical texture was formed. There are marble quarries near the ancient cities. It is said that the marble quarries here are between 100 million and 125 million years old.
Stratonikeia and Lagina Ancient City Excavation Head Pamukkale University Faculty Member Prof. Dr. Bilal Söğüt said, “All of the marbles used here are from this region. Especially since the classical period, we know that even the fortification walls were built only from marble. This shows that there is great wealth in this region in terms of marble. We agree that they are at an advanced level in cutting, transporting, and constructing the marble in the structures here, and we have no hesitation in this. In fact, we can see all the phases of the stone from the moment it was cut from the quarry in the structures here. For example, we know one by one that block cut in the Hellenistic period in the parliament building was put there, how the surface was processed, and how the profiles were opened. It is certain that they are quite advanced in transportation beyond these applications. Because only the body of the column at the north entrance is 1 m in diameter and 7 m in height. They were able to bring it here in one piece and sew it. In other words, these columns reach a height of 9.5 m with their pedestals and capitals. It means that a marble weighing about 10 tons is brought in one piece and built here. They used 500 tons of marble on one foot, 500 tons on the other foot, and 100 tons on the arch.”
