Looking for a quiet place to spend the night on our way to Tasucu, we stopped in a small quiet anchorage near the village of Ovacik just under the Goktepe promontory.
We anchored Makarma in the corner of this small natural harbour near where the local fishermen keep their boats - always a good indication of where the best place to park to avoid wind and swell.
We noticed some ruins onshore just across from where we had anchored and the following morning launched the dinghy to investigate.
Later we learned this unassuming site was very famous, but by land the village of Ovacik could only be reached via a torturous track that barely passes as a road. Here we were anchored only 50 metres away!
What a discovery! When ashore, we could see what appeared to be the outline of the of a small Byzantine church and the floor was covered in fine sand.
When Cathy brushed away some of the sand it was one of those "Indiana Jones moments" of discovery! Under the sand were very complete and beautifully coloured mosaics!
We spent the next few hours brushing away sand uncovering and recovering these amazing mosaics.
Later we learned the church on the site site dates back to the 5th century. The mosaics are made of colourful cubic tesserae (each tile about 1cm square) in amazingly vivid colours of red, black, white, green, blue and yellow.
The mosaics included scenes of birds, baskets of bread and wine cups.
Cathy discovered a central mosaic in the nave in front of where the bema would have been.
The six line inscription says, "The ship-owner Paulos has fulfilled his vow for his healing" (Our Greek gets better every day! )
This is a photo we found in a local history book of what the complete mosasic looks like when uncovered.
We also learned that the church was built on top of an earlier Roman temple to Aphrodite. Obviously people had occupied this small natural harbour for thousands of years.
The hillside were full of the stones of ancient riuns and tombs sites. While climbing through the rocks and exploring the hillside we encountered our first Turkish snake (!)
We anchored Makarma in the corner of this small natural harbour near where the local fishermen keep their boats - always a good indication of where the best place to park to avoid wind and swell.
We noticed some ruins onshore just across from where we had anchored and the following morning launched the dinghy to investigate.
Later we learned this unassuming site was very famous, but by land the village of Ovacik could only be reached via a torturous track that barely passes as a road. Here we were anchored only 50 metres away!
What a discovery! When ashore, we could see what appeared to be the outline of the of a small Byzantine church and the floor was covered in fine sand.
When Cathy brushed away some of the sand it was one of those "Indiana Jones moments" of discovery! Under the sand were very complete and beautifully coloured mosaics!
We spent the next few hours brushing away sand uncovering and recovering these amazing mosaics.
Later we learned the church on the site site dates back to the 5th century. The mosaics are made of colourful cubic tesserae (each tile about 1cm square) in amazingly vivid colours of red, black, white, green, blue and yellow.
The mosaics included scenes of birds, baskets of bread and wine cups.
Cathy discovered a central mosaic in the nave in front of where the bema would have been.
The six line inscription says, "The ship-owner Paulos has fulfilled his vow for his healing" (Our Greek gets better every day! )
This is a photo we found in a local history book of what the complete mosasic looks like when uncovered.
We also learned that the church was built on top of an earlier Roman temple to Aphrodite. Obviously people had occupied this small natural harbour for thousands of years.
The hillside were full of the stones of ancient riuns and tombs sites. While climbing through the rocks and exploring the hillside we encountered our first Turkish snake (!)
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