Location Antalya, Burdur
Years 2013-2022
Director
Işılay Gürsu
BIAA
Funding The Headley Trust, the Aurelius Charitable Trust, the Stevenson Family Charitable Trust, the Leche Trust, the Robert Kiln Charitable Trust, the Society of Dilettanti Charitable Trust
The Pisidia Heritage Trail (PHT) is a long-distance trekking trail, which is more than 350km long, connecting twelve different archaeological sites in the ancient region of Pisidia (southwest Türkiye).
These archaeological sites, situated in remote, pristine and densely forested highlands, have the potential to offer a quasi-poetic experience for explorers. The route of the PHT follows the remnants of 2,000-year-old ancient roads and, where these ancient roads are no longer traceable, little paths that are still used by local villagers. The trail is designed to attract hikers, nature lovers and adventurers in general, and to provide economic benefits for the communities who live in the vicinity of these ruins.
The trail has already been waymarked with tailored made marks designed as Pisidian shield in red paint. The launch of a dedicated website and a guidebook is imminent.
In order to portray how the Pisidian cities looked in ancient times, Pisidia Heritage Trail Mobile App was prepared, which contains 3D reconstructions of selected monuments with accompanying explanatory texts. The app, designed by Lithodomos VR is available free on Android and iOS.
Işılay Gürsu received her PhD in Cultural Heritage Management (CHM) from IMT Institute for Advanced Studies, Lucca, Italy in 2013. Prior to her PhD, she worked at the Istanbul Archaeological Museums Development Project for a year. She joined the BIAA in 2013 as the CHM Postdoctoral Researcher. She has worked on the ancient region of Pisidia, culminating in the Pisidia Heritage Trail, a 350km long trekking route connecting archaeological sites in the region. She has co-led the Living Amid the Ruins and Safeguarding Archaeological Assets of Turkey Projects. She was a British Academy Mid-Career Fellow in 2022 to work on a monograph “Public Dialogues in Archaeology: New Methodologies from Turkey” which will be published by Bloomsbury in late 2025.
Ümit Işın
Michele Massa
Gökhan Deniz
Lutgarde Vandeput
Director, BIAA
Stephen Mitchell