Medieval Becin city eyeing to get UNESCO heritage tag

By Durmus Genc

MUGLA, Turkey (AA) - The medieval city of Becin in southwest Turkey that has hosted many civilizations is preparing to be included in UNESCO’s World Heritage list.

Prof. Kadir Pektas, chief of the Archeological excavation team, told Anadolu Agency that the city dated back to 2000 B.C. but it earned the importance during the Menteseogullari sultanate in the 13th and 14th century.

"Becin Castle is a place that gives very significant traces of Anatolian Turkish art," he said.

“The Becin Ancient City is not only famous for its historical structures but also its diversity of plants and animals. For this reason, we are conducting studies for the UNESCO permanent list,” he added.

UNESCO also described the Menteseogullari as one of the “most important” sultanate in terms of the cultural elements that they left in the western Anatolia which could be accepted as the first examples representing the characteristics of the Ottoman .

“The architectural remains of the Becin city not only enlighten the Western Anatolian architecture of that period but also the form of the first Turkish settlements in that region,” UNESCO said in its description statement.

The archaeological site of Becin has been excavated systemically since 1972 and in 2000, a hoard of coins, 60,000 of which are from Ottoman period, was found in Becin, it said.

“It is not only the largest hoard that has ever been found in Turkey in archaeological excavations, but also the largest cache of Ottoman coins that has ever been found,” the UNESCO added.