Marmaray

Türkiye's first Osteoarchaeology Application and Research Center at Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa (IÜÇ) has revealed important findings that throw light on Istanbul's diverse wildlife from 8,500 years ago.

Though Istanbul is famous for its cats and seagulls today, many species ranging from elephants to deer and vultures to loggerheads were found in Istanbul thousands of years ago.

Street and house ruins from the Early Byzantine and Late Roman Period, unearthed during the excavations at Marmaray's Sirkeci Station in 2009-2011, will be opened to visitors by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) in the second stage of Sarayburnu Park at the Istanbul Historic Peninsula Model Exhibition.

The Transport and Infrastructure Ministry is leading efforts to safeguard Istanbul's vital structures, including the Bosphorus bridges, in anticipation of a major earthquake along the region's fault line.

Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu unveiled a comprehensive evacuation strategy, emphasizing the priority to minimize casualties and ensure the availability of essential resources.

The Sirkeci-Halkalı suburban trains, Istanbul's first railway line which were decommissioned a decade ago, will be put back into service for touristic purposes.

Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu has stated that in the last 10 years, 1 billion passengers have traveled with Marmaray, an undersea railway tunnel connecting Europe and Asia via the Bosporus Strait.

The conservation process of the Yenikapı shipwrecks, discovered during the Marmaray project and considered the world's largest collection of ancient ships, has stopped due to the lack of a museum or a warehouse, says the head of the Yenikapı Shipwrecks Excavation and Conservation Project.

Within the scope of the restoration works of the historical Maiden's Tower, one of the symbolic buildings of Istanbul, the Transport and Infrastructure Ministry has informed that they have surrounded the island where the tower is located with stakes to keep it standing and afloat for thousands of years.

Some artifacts in the warehouses of the Istanbul Archeology Museums will be taken to Atatürk Airport and some to an area bought by the Culture and Tourism Ministry in Maltepe district, where "warehouse museums" will be established.

A net 370,000 tons of goods have been transported via the Marmaray tunnel that connects Istanbul's Asian and European sides in a year, according to numbers of the TCDD Taşımacılık A.Ş. of the Transportation Ministry.

A digital miniature exhibition will open at the Marmaray Yenikapı Station in Istanbul on Feb. 15, Turkey's Communications Directorate announced on Feb. 13.

As part of the government's 360 Culture and Arts project, the Miniaturist Osman Surname-i Humayun Digital Miniature Exhibition will be open to the public for free between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays, read a statement.