The ancient city of Bargylia, 30 kilometres from Bodrum, has come up for sale, Hürriyet newspaper reported.

At the price of 35 million lira ($8.3 million), the 2,500-year-old site contains an acropolis, an odeon, a church, a cemetery, and some city walls still standing.

However, much of it is in ruins, and the attention of treasure-hunters has left the site dotted with holes.

So far, no proper archaeological dig has been carried out at the site, which was mentioned by the Hellenistic geographer Strabo in ancient times for its excellent Temple of Artemis.

One of the owners of the site, 87-year-old Hüseyin Üçpınar, said that it was being put up for sale after years of using adjacent lands as olive groves because it could no longer be protected by its owners from amateur treasure-hunters.

He said he was hoping for the Culture and Tourism Ministry to either nationalise the entire 300-hectare area or to take responsibility for the city before it is completely destroyed.

source: ahvalnews.com