Kuşkayası (

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

for ''Bird's rock'') is a roadside monument just outside the town of

Amasra Amasra (from Greek Amastris Ἄμαστρις, ''gen''. Ἀμάστριδος) is a small Black Sea port town in the Bartın Province, Turkey, formerly known as Amastris. The town today is much appreciated for its beaches and natural setting, ...

, in

Bartın Province Bartın Province ( tr, ), a small province in northern Turkey on the Black Sea, surrounds the city of Bartın. It lies to the east of Zonguldak Province. The town of Bartın contains a number of very old wooden houses in a style no longer ext ...

, in the

Black Sea Region The Black Sea Region ( tr, Karadeniz Bölgesi) is a geographical region of Turkey. The largest city in the region is Samsun. Other big cities are Trabzon, Ordu, Tokat, Giresun, Rize, Amasya and Sinop. It is bordered by the Marmara Region ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. It was erected in the Roman Imperial age.

Location

The landmark lies in a dense forest, situated to the south of the road connecting

Bartın Bartın is a city in northern Turkey and the central district of the province of Bartın. Formerly a district of Zonguldak Province, Bartın was made into a province seat in 1991 with the constitution of its province, including four districts: ...

at . At a distance of about from Amasra, it overlooks a part of the town as well as the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, ...

. The altitude of the monument is about above sea level. It can be reached by a staircase from the road.

History

The Kuşkayası road monument is a unique structure in Turkey. It was built by Gaius Julius Aquila, procurator of

Bithynia et Pontus Bithynia and Pontus ( la, Provincia Bithynia et Pontus, Ancient Greek ) was the name of a province of the Roman Empire on the Black Sea coast of Anatolia (modern-day Turkey). It was formed during the late Roman Republic by the amalgamation of the ...

, in honor of Roman Emperor Tiberius Claudius Germanicus (AD 41–54). The monument includes a statue of a now headless human figure, the

Roman eagle An ''aquila'' (, "eagle") was a prominent symbol used in ancient Rome, especially as the standard of a Roman legion. A legionary known as an ''aquilifer'', the "eagle-bearer", carried this standard. Each legion carried one eagle. The eagle had ...

(also headless) and a bilingual inscription, all carved into the mountain. The human figure may represent either the Emperor or the Governor. In the original monument there was also a fountain (which no longer exists).

Inscription

The inscription is in Latin and Greek translations, which allow lacunae in one to be supplemented by the surviving text of the other.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuskayasi Monument Buildings and structures in Bartın Province Archaeological sites in the Black Sea Region Roman sites in Turkey Monuments and memorials in Turkey Steles in Turkey History of Bartın Province 1st-century inscriptions