Guide
On the Hersek lagoon in Altınova, on the Yalova coast of the Sea of Marmara, an Ottoman lighthouse dated 1863 stands right beside the remains of a much older one. The older structure belonged to the harbour of the ancient city of Helenopolis and has been dated by its excavators to the late Roman and early Byzantine period; it was found underwater and brought to light during the 2022 land and underwater excavations of the Hersek Delta, led by the underwater archaeology department of Uludağ University.
The Ottoman lighthouse has been restored, and together the two buildings trace how lighthouses developed from Roman times onwards. Altınova Municipality describes the site as the only place in the world where an ancient and a modern lighthouse have been found side by side, and it is being presented as a lighthouse museum within a wider project, run with the Yalova museum directorate, to protect the district's archaeological remains.
