Cafe owner Halil Cakmak said he had “no ill intentions” behind the installation, but wanted to “contribute to the development” of the local area.
Salim Uzun An ancient Phrygian tomb was illegally converted into a cafe before the owner was forced to close the business.
Experts have warned that irreversible damage could have been caused to a 3,000-year-old Phrygian rock tomb in Turkey after it was illegally converted into a cafe called Taş Bahçe, or 'Rock Garden'.
The tomb, which is on UNESCO's Tentative World Heritage List, was controversially altered with the addition of carpets, wooden furniture, light fittings and a chimney heating system. The move has sparked outrage among experts and the public, who have called the cafe “cultural destruction”.
Initial reports prompted Turkey's Ministry of Culture and Tourism to intervene, but the damage – including drilling into the rock and laying electrical cables – is beyond repair.
Ancient rock tomb illegally converted into cafe
Salim Uzun Cafe patrons sit on a carpet laid out in the tomb.
The illegal cafe was first reported by Hürriyet journalist Salim Uzun, who said the owners had decorated the tomb by hammering nails and drilling holes directly into the rock, as well as running electrical wiring through the ancient structure.
During the winter months, they closed the historic rooms with transparent doors and heated the tomb with a chimney system and coal and wood stoves. They also installed swings in front of the building. All of this, Uzun noted, was completely unauthorized by the Preservation Area Council.
Salim Uzun Decorations outside the 3,000-year-old tomb.
“Let alone adding tables and chairs to a registered site, installing electricity and turning it into a cafe or restaurant, you can’t even go within a certain distance of it,” said archaeologist Nevzat Cevik. “It’s not ignorance. They know it’s an important structure.”
One photo of the decorated room, posted on Stone Garden's social media, was captioned: “Glory to the Stone Rooms.”
Cevik was not the only one to condemn the cafe owners. According to Anatolian Archaeology , archaeologist Ahmet Levent Zeybek noted that “these rock tombs are among the most important cultural heritages in the world. Their commercial use seriously threatens their original texture and historical value.”
Professor Havva Işkan Işık called the cafe “a rejection of a culture that has existed for thousands of years. Such interventions can be considered cultural destruction.”
In initial reports, Cevik called on the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to intervene, saying the cafe's presence was “unacceptable.” The ministry responded quickly once officials learned of the
Sourse: www.allthatsinteresting.com
