Çeşme Bağlararası, an ancient winery, is one of the most important archaeological sites in the Çeşme region, shedding light on its ancient history and early settlement patterns. Located within the modern boundaries of Çeşme, this site has revealed evidence of human habitation spanning thousands of years, making it a fascinating destination for history enthusiasts and archaeologists alike.
Çeşme Bağlararası – Table of Contents
Çeşme Bağlararası Historical Significance
The Bağlararası site provides crucial insights into Çeşme’s history, particularly during the Bronze Age and Classical periods. Excavations have revealed that Çeşme was a thriving coastal settlement with significant maritime activity, likely benefiting from its strategic location near major trade routes of the Aegean Sea. The site’s history ties Çeşme to broader Aegean and Mediterranean civilisations, showing interactions with Minoan, Mycenaean, and later Ionian cultures.
Archaeological Discoveries
The site, first excavated in the early 2000s, has yielded a range of significant artefacts and features:
Bronze Age Settlement
Archaeologists have uncovered a settlement dating back to the 2nd millennium B.C., demonstrating that Çeşme was inhabited during the Bronze Age. Artefacts like pottery, tools, and storage vessels indicate that Bağlararası was an agriculture and maritime trade hub.
Geometric and Archaic Period Finds
Evidence of habitation from the Geometric Period (900–700 BCE) and Archaic Period (700–500 BCE) shows that the site continued to thrive after the Bronze Age. Pottery and other materials suggest strong cultural and trade connections with other Ionian cities and the Aegean islands.
Minoan Influence
Unique finds include pottery fragments and other artefacts with Minoan (Cretan) design influences, pointing to early trade and cultural exchange across the Aegean. This suggests Çeşme Bağlararası was part of a network linking Anatolia, Crete, and the Cyclades.
Water Structures
Excavations have revealed cisterns and water management systems, highlighting the advanced infrastructure of the settlement.
Weapons and Fortifications
Some finds, including weapons and fortifications, suggest the settlement may have also played a defensive role in protecting trade routes.
Çeşme Bağlararası Maritime Connection
Given its proximity to the Aegean Sea, Çeşme Bağlararası was likely a crucial port town. The discoveries suggest that its inhabitants were skilled in seafaring, shipbuilding, and trade, particularly in agricultural goods like olive oil, wine, and possibly mastic gum from nearby Chios. The maritime focus of the settlement connects it to the broader economic and cultural networks of the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean.
Evidence of Tsunami
One of the most intriguing discoveries at Bağlararası is evidence of a tsunami event dating back to the Late Bronze Age. Geological analysis and excavations show that the settlement was affected by this natural disaster, likely connected to the Thera eruption (on modern-day Santorini), which caused widespread destruction across the Aegean. This finding underscores the vulnerability of coastal settlements in antiquity to natural disasters while also providing valuable data on how ancient communities responded and recovered.
Visiting Çeşme Bağlararası
Location: Musalla, 1036. Sk., 35930 Çeşme/İzmir
While Çeşme Bağlararası is in the centre of the town, just 200 metres from the Marina, surrounded by residential apartments, it is an unimposing site fenced off and largely covered over. The site primarily focuses on ongoing archaeological research; visitors may find opportunities to explore select areas or view artefacts displayed in nearby museums, such as the Izmir Archaeological Museum, which houses artefacts from Bağlararası, including pottery and tools. Çeşme Castle Museum displays a few findings about the site and its historical context.
Çeşme Bağlararası Importance to Çeşme’s Identity
Çeşme Bağlararası has cemented Çeşme’s place as a site of historical significance, linking its modern identity as a luxurious Aegean destination to its ancient roots as a bustling maritime hub. The site enriches the cultural narrative of Çeşme and offers a tangible connection to the past.
Archaeological Excavations at Çeşme Bağlararası
See Ankara University – Archaeological Excavations at Çeşme Bağlararası (Turkish website)
Archaeologist Hüseyin Vural discovered the site by chance in 2001 and took the necessary measures to halt the redevelopment of the area, which would have destroyed the critical findings that have brought to light a very little-known subject in Anatolian archaeology. This study is an excavation jointly carried out by Çeşme Archaeology Museum and Ankara University between 2002 and 2005 led by Prof. Dr. Hayat Erkanal. The excavations started again in 2009 under the chairmanship of Prof. Dr. Vasıf Şahoğlu.
Excavations revealed that a massive earthquake occurred here about 3700 years ago. During this great earthquake, the entire settlement was destroyed, the buildings used at that moment were utterly destroyed, and the life in the settlement was interrupted. A critical building that collapsed and went out of use during this earthquake is a winery building, one of the oldest known wineries in Anatolia. It has an arrangement in which wine production is carried out, and the product obtained is matured and stored. Two parts have been detected with a trapezoidal front space form, allowing the grapes to be crushed and juices extracted. In addition to these arrangements, various crushing stones and large storage pots with human facial reliefs were found.
Three small rectangular spaces below the base level have been identified. The entrances of these places are without doors and would have been accessed from above. Many fish bones and some carbonised wheat and grape-kernel have been uncovered, indicating they were probably used as a cellar. Carbonised almonds were also found in the same place. The space in the middle is separated from the others by a plastered floor and side walls and probably serves as a cistern in which the grape juice is fermented and turned into wine. The third section, located in the northernmost place, is laid with slabs and stones. Many clover, beak and round-mouth tests and hemispherical bowls were uncovered in this place. These containers are essential to store wine, transport it from place to place and for consumption.