Syedra: Ancient Türkiye's Major Olive Oil Production Hub

Excavations Reveal Syedra Was a Major Olive Oil Production Hub in Ancient Türkiye

ANTALYA, Türkiye — Ongoing excavations at the ancient city of Syedra, located around 20 kilometers east of Alanya in Türkiye’s Antalya province, have revealed that the 3,000-year-old settlement was one of the Mediterranean’s major olive oil production centers during the Hellenistic and Roman periods.

Archaeologists have uncovered nearly 20 olive oil workshops so far, while more than 100 production sites have been identified across the city, indicating industrial-scale activity that challenges earlier assumptions about Syedra’s economic role.

The excavations are being conducted by Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University under the Culture and Tourism Ministry’s Heritage for the Future project, which gained momentum after systematic research began in 2019.

“Almost every structure in Syedra contains an olive oil or other production workshop beneath it. This suggests olive oil production was carried out on a massive scale,”

— Professor Ertuğ Ergürer, Excavation Director

Excavation director Professor Ertuğ Ergürer told Anadolu Agency that the discoveries point to an unusually intensive level of production. He noted that production facilities were typically located outside city walls in antiquity, making the density within Syedra remarkable.

Key Discoveries at Syedra

• Over 100 identified olive oil production sites across the city.
• Nearly 20 workshops fully uncovered by archaeologists.
• Discovery of large pithoi storage vessels for oil storage and transport.
• Evidence of production on an industrial, export-oriented scale.

Economic Significance & Trade

Researchers identified large storage vessels known as pithoi, used to store and transport olive oil, suggesting that Syedra’s output exceeded local demand and was likely exported across the Mediterranean, including to North Africa and the Levant.

This finding redefines Syedra's historical role, elevating it from a typical coastal settlement to a central player in the ancient Mediterranean economy.

Experience for Visitors

Visitors to the site can observe demonstrations of ancient olive oil production techniques, including:

• Crushing olives using traditional methods.
• Pressing them with reconstructed wooden lever systems.
• Transferring the oil into replica storage containers.

Historical Context

Archaeologists note that olive cultivation in the Eastern Mediterranean dates back to around 6000 BCE, with Türkiye’s coastal regions remaining central to olive oil production and trade for millennia. The scale of operations at Syedra provides a tangible link to this enduring agricultural and economic tradition.

Important: The site is an active archaeological dig. Visitors are reminded to stay within designated visitor areas and not touch or remove any artifacts.