ISTANBUL, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Turkish archaeologists have unearthed a 350-year-old Ottoman bath during ongoing excavations in Türkiye's northwestern province of Canakkale, local media reported on Tuesday.
The Hurriyet Daily News said on its website that the bath had been unearthed in Kemer village, where the ancient city of Parion was located.
"The bath is the only preserved architectural structure of the Ottoman-Turkish presence in this village, dating back 350 years, hidden among the modern structures," Hasan Kasapoglu, an academic and deputy head of the excavation team, was quoted as saying.
After the excavation team found two tombstones during previous excavations, it concluded that there was a bathhouse on the site.
The inscriptions on the gravestones indicated that the graves belonged to the bath attendant and his assistant, which led the team to uncover the remains of the bath.
Following the finding, experts in art history and restoration have secured the interior of the bath with a temporary steel structure, with plans to restore it and open it to visitors, Kasapoglu said.
The Turkish baths, also known as hammams, were important in the Ottoman period not only for maintaining cleanliness but also for healing, as it was believed that the high humidity and temperature of the environment could cure many illnesses.
With a history of 2,700 years, the ancient city of Parion was an important port city of the Roman Empire period, added the expert, noting that the excavation works have been ongoing in the area since 2015 by a team from Ondokuz Mayis University. ■
