According to a statement made by the university, the project, which is the first of its kind, will be realized in collaboration with the Culture and Tourism Ministry.

Speaking about the project, Ankara University Underwater Archaeology Research and Application Center (ANKÜSAM) founder and Liman Tepe excavations head Professor Hayat Erkanal said, “This project is the first in the world. We will start working to prepare boats and weapons first. The detailed construction will start in a year.”

Erkanal said catapults of the Roman era would also be in the harbour, adding, “There were buildings in the harbour for loading and registration, we will build these buildings. We have found out that there was a small church in the harbour in the late period. But we will build a harbour from the early Roman era. It will be established on land allocated by the Urla Municipality. We will build at least two boats from the early Roman era. The area will be open to tourist visits when the work is finished. We will try to keep this area a living place. Visitors will be able to tour in the Aegean sea on Roman boats.”

Ankara University Rector Professor Erkan İbiş said the project was important for Turkish tourism. He said they will revive every aspect of the Roman harbour.

“We will build the very same Roman harbour here. Tools, boats, loading vehicles are being created just like their original,” he said.

Editor's Note:

The Turkish name "Urla" is derived from the Greek "Vourla" meaning marshlands and the town was cited as such in western sources until the 20th century. Urla is where the ancient city of Klazomenai is located.

Source: Hurriyet Daily News [June 09, 2015]

VIA «Lisbon harbour»

In a cultural event held by Alexandrina Bibliotheca on Monday, Ibrahim said the project will be a culturally entertaining one that will completely change tourism in Egypt.

“After the Mediterranean Sea submerged ancient Alexandria as result of an earthquake, excavation works have helped to recover thousands of relics that date back to different historic eras like the pharaonic, Ptolemaic, Romanian and Islamic.”

“Doubles of these relics are still underwater, which led us to think about the first underwater museum in Egypt. According to our designs, it will be a glass one,” he added.

Among the obstacles that face the project, Ibrahim included “the wide areas of submerged antiquities underwater, the necessity of having a large number of archaeological divers to carry out periodic maintenance. Also, ships and sailing boats will be banned from navigating above the museum area.”

Mona Mokhtar, a tour guide who holds a master's degree on maritime museums said, “My master's thesis came down to the fact that 65 percent of tourists in the world look for entertainment, while 10 percent search for culture and 25 percent for other reasons, including treatment.”

“Constructing the first underwater museum in Egypt will be a mix between entertainment and cultural tourism, as it will offer diving and historic information on the story of Egypt's submerged antiquities and the eras they belong to,” Ibrahim said.

Source: Egypt Independent [May 26, 2015]