Historical Castle Gate

The gate of an ancient castle used by several civilizations over thousands of years and were subject to legends has been unearthed in Takkeli Mountain, in the capital of Anatolian Seljuks, Konya. The excavation work, which has been conducted by Konya Directorate of Museums, Selçuklu Municipality and Necmettin Erbakan University, has been going on the Gevela Castle in Takkeli Mountain.  
A CASTLE GATE DATES BACK TO 5 THOUSAND YEARS
Archaeologists have reached important findings during the excavations in Gevela Castle in Selçuklu district and they carry traces of Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk, Karamanids and Ottoman eras.
AN EXCAVATION FOR 9 YEARS
Prof. Dr. Ahmet Çaycı, who heads the art history department at Necmettin Erbakan University in Konya and consults on the ongoing excavations, stated that the works on the mountain 1720 metres high are going on without any stop at the 9th year.
ROMAN, BYZANTINE, SELJUK, KARAMANIDS AND OTTOMAN ERAS
Çaycı expressed that during the excavations they have reached to findings that belong to Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk, Karamanids and Ottoman eras so far. He also stated that they are going on the excavations with Konya Directorate of Museums and Selçuklu Municipality.
THE ENTRANCE OF THE CASTLE IS IN SUCH A PREDOMINATING TOP VIEW POINT
 While expressing that restoration work has been ongoing with the supports of Konya Governorship and with the sponsorship of Selçuklu Municipality, Çaycı also stated that “we discovered the gate between the two bulwarks on the castle. We are still working on the area. According to the available evidence, we have stated that the building dates back to the Hittites.  The bulwarks and castle ruins can be said to contain signs of the Roman and Hellenistic eras”.
800-YEAR-OLD GATE IS MOSTLY SELJUK ERA
“This gate is mostly Seljuk era, an 800-year-old gate,” he said. “There must have been another door here before. We got samples in pieces,” he added. “We’re trying to complete them”.
PALACE, SHELTER AND CASTLE AT THE SAME TIME
According to Çaycı this place is a defence castle and a shelter for sultans. The Sarayköy neighbourhood in the foothills of the mountain gets its name from here, a nearby palace. It is a perfect shelter for sultans and it is a place for the acceptance of messengers.
THE GATE OPENS TO SERVICE PLACES
Saying that the gate discovered between the two bulwarks on the castle’s east-facing slope is the main entrance, Çaycı said: “We’ll try to find the second gate as well.” “Here we came across more service areas,” he said. “Kitchen, cellar, and storage structures are lined up around. It goes up gradually. The findings exceeded our expectations.”
“IMPLEMENTATION PHASE”
Noting that restoration work on the unearthed architectural structures is ongoing, Çaycı said that the bulwarks will be restored based on the original structures. He also stated that “Approvals have been obtained from the relevant bodies and we’re currently in the implementation phase”.
BULWARKS WILL BE VISIBLE FROM CENTRAL KONYA
It is estimated that when the excavation work will be finished, soon these bulwarks will be visible from Konya.