Journal of Civil Engineering and Urbanism  
Volume 10, Issue 3: 32-34; May 25, 2020  
ISSN-2252-0430  
Historical Water Conveyances to Aphrodisias and the Yeşilköy-  
Kayapinar Water Tunnel  
Rasoul Daneshfaraz1 and Ahmet Alkan2  
1Department of Civil Engineering University of Maragheh Maragheh, Iran  
2Faculty of Engineering, Civil Engineering Department, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey  
Corresponding author’s Email: ahmet.alkan@deu.edu.tr  
ABSTRACT  
Anatolia is considered as one of the foremost open-air museums of the world with regard to historical hydraulic  
works. The antique city Aphrodisias, near the settlement Geyre at the Karacasu District in the Aydın Province of  
Turkey, was supplied from two regions by long-distance water conveyance systems: (a) the 22 km long Yenidere  
(Timeles) water conveyance supplying the springwater near the village Güzelköy of the Tavas District in the  
Denizli Province, from the south-east (the conveyance from Sekiköy joined probably this system); (b) the 9 km long  
Işıklar water conveyance supplying the springwater near same-named village of the Karacasu District of the Aydın  
Province, from the north-west (the conveyance from Derindere springs joined probably this system). The Yenidere  
(Timeles) water conveyance is one of the rarely encountered historical example of water transfer between adjacent  
basins; and moreover, the length of the tunnel, of roughly 1% slope and 1m3/s capacity, digged with the ‘qanat’  
system, is about 5 km from the entrance in the south-west of Yeşilköy and the outlet in the north-east of the village  
Kayapınar, and ranks among the longest ones of its kind in the antique world. This water conveyance system,  
especially the above mentioned tunnel section, which has a special place among the historical water works in  
Turkey, should be carefully investigated, duely repaired, and preserved for the future according to its international  
relevance.  
Key words: Aphrodisias, Yenidere dam, Timeles, Waterways  
INTRODUCTION  
this tunnel, known as the Tunnel region tunnel, is a flood  
control that will ensure the discharge of closed reservoirs.  
It was also noted whether it was part of another system  
that could transmit water to Aphrodisias.  
direction of Orhan Baykan and Ersel Tanrıöver  
detailed information about Işıklar and Derincedere  
waterways were found. The passage of Işıklar waterway  
A summary statement of this study was presented to  
the preparatory conference of the 5th World Water Forum  
In the work of Angela Commito and Felipe Rojas  
published in 2012 (Commito and Rojas, 2012), a very  
different pass was given for Işıklar waterway; The  
possible passage of the waterway close to 25 km called  
Timeles (Yenidere) waterway, which compiles and  
transmits the spring waters from Tavas region from the  
southeast to the city, was also given. Angela Commito  
Turkey in terms of historical water structures is one of the  
world's leading open-air museums (Öziş et al., 2014; Öziş,  
2015 a, b). In this context, the waterways of the ancient  
city of Aphrodisias (Aphrodisias), located near the Geyre  
settlement in Karacasu District of Aydın Province, are also  
of international interest in the context of many historical  
water structures in the Karya region (Tanrıöver, 2002).  
The first study on systems that transmit water to  
Aphrodisias and to determine passes is the diploma project  
prepared by Meral Çakır, Özcan Verim and Refik Afşar  
under the direction of Turhan Acatay in 1978 (Çakır et al.,  
1978). In this study, two waterways were identified, one  
from the north of Aphrodisias, from the springs in the  
north of Işıklar village, which transmitted water to the city,  
and the other from the Derindere springs in the east,  
reaching the water reservoir a few km north of the city.  
Ayhan Atalay found a tunnel mouth in the east of  
Kayapınar village in the early 1990s; In the book of Ünal  
findings of Çakır et al. (1978), due to his studies on  
Ephesus waterways, Ünal Öziş's 1994 book (Öziş, 1994),  
To cite this paper: Daneshfaraz R and Alkan A. (2020). Historical Water Conveyances to Aphrodisias and the Yeşilköy-Kayapinar Water Tunnel. J. Civil Eng. Urban., 10 (3): 32-  
32  
J. Civil Eng. Urban., 10 (3): 32-34, 2020  
summarized similar findings in her report (Commito,  
2015) to the symposium in Antalya in 2014.  
Rojas, 2012; Commito, 2015). However, in a second study  
(Taşer, 2015), it was determined that the crossing towards  
Seki region after Kocadere valley in this passage (Figure  
1). In this case, the length of the waterway, which is  
around 25 km, decreases to the order of 22 km.  
It is highly probable that the waterway that transmits  
spring water around Seki village has also joined the  
Yenidere waterway in the plain.  
The length of the transmission line from the Yenidere  
Dam, which has left the initial section of the Yenidere  
waterway under water to the tunnel exit point near  
Kayapınar Village, is 11 km and the slope of the channel  
is close to one thousandths according to the elevation  
difference of 10.1 meters between these two points. On the  
arch located at the passage of a small stream bed just  
downstream of the Yenidere Dam, there is a channel ruin  
in the view of an open canal, approximately 0.85 m high  
and 1.70 m wide. Considering the manning medium  
roughness coefficient n = 0,025, it is possible for the  
system to transmit a flow rate of 1.0 m3 / s according to  
this slope and size.  
The last study on this subject is the finishing project  
prepared by Yüksel Taşer under the management of  
Ahmet Alkan in 2015, examining the Yenidere waterway  
(Taşer, 2015). In this study, the last 6 km long section of  
Yenidere (Timeles) waterway before reaching the city  
passes significantly more southwest.  
In these waterways, there are many interesting water  
structures such as open canal, masonry gallery,  
transportation gallery, tunnel, transportation shaft,  
aqueduct, reverse siphon.  
As an important historical example belonging to the  
'water transfer between basins' of Yenidere waterway, it is  
a rare historical example, the tunnel section opened  
between the tunnel entrance in the southwest of Yeşilköy  
and the tunnel exit in the northeast of Kayapınar, 5 km. It  
is one of the longest examples of its kind with its length in  
the order.  
AN OVERVIEW OF THE HISTORICAL SUITES OF  
AFRODİSYAS  
The transition from the Tavas closed basin to the  
Kocadere branch valley of the Büyük Menderes basin was  
provided by a 5 km long tunnel. Some intermediate  
chimneys of the tunnel, which was built with the 'Kanat'  
method, were encountered during the possible passage.  
Waterways from Işıklar district  
The passage of the waterway starting from the sources  
2-3 km north of Işıklar village continues differently in  
three studies after a few km in the southwest of the village;  
Süleymanoğlu, 2001), with small differences, they head  
towards the Derincedere valley in the southeast; In the  
turns to the southwest and reaches the city with a  
curvature. In the first study, the waterway (Çakır et al.,  
1978), whose waters were collected from springs around  
Fığla hill, which stretches along the eastern shore of  
Derincedere but ends in a water tank before reaching the  
city, is not mentioned in the following studies, two water  
Afrodisyas  
Seki  
N
Güzelköy  
Yeþilköy  
Kayapýnar  
Yenidere Barajý  
0
2.0  
4.0 km  
Işıklar waterway gorge has been more westward than  
the first two studies and more eastward than the third  
study; By joining the arm from Derincedere springs, it  
seems highly probable that a single waterway has come to  
the city.  
Figure 1. Possible passage of the Yenidere (Timeles)  
waterway that transmits water to Aphrodisias from the  
southeast, Tavas closed basin.  
Waterways from Tavas direction  
YEŞİLKÖY-KAYAPINAR WATER TUNNEL  
The crossing of the Yenidere (Timeles) waterway,  
which transmits the waters of the springs near Güzelköy to  
Aphrodisias from the Tavas closed basin, was largely  
determined in the first comprehensive study (Commito and  
on the Yenidere waterway between the tunnel entrance in  
33  
Daneshfaraz and Alkan et al., 2020  
Commito A, Rojas F (2012). The aqueducts of Aphrodisias, The  
the southwest of Yeşilköy and the tunnel exit in the  
northeast of Kayapınar by the 'kanât' method (Grewe,  
Taşer, 2015) is one of the longest examples of its kind  
with its height of 5 km.  
Aphrodisias regional survey 5 (Eds. C Ratté, HD Staebler) Zabern,  
Mainz, Almanya, 289-307. Google Scholar  
Çakır M, Verim Ö, Afşar R (1978). Antik Afrodisias kenti su yapıları  
(Ancient Aphrodisias city water structures), Diploma projesi  
(Diploma Project), Mühendislik Bilimleri Fakültesi (Faculty of  
Engineering Sciences, Ege University, İzmir, Türkiye.  
The size of the tunnel as it is in the nature of the long  
history of water tunnel in Turkey, is sized to be counted  
among the world's leading long history of water tunnels.  
Grewe K. Aquädukte (2014). Wasser für Roms Städte; der große  
Überblick-vom Römerkanal zum Aquäduktmarmor. Regionalia  
Verlag; 2014. Google Scholar.  
Grewe K (1998). Licht am Ende des Tunnels: Planung und Trassierung im  
antiken Tunnelbau”,. Zabern, Mainz, Almanya. ISBN: 3805324960,  
CONCLUSION  
Gündoğdu O, Süleymanoğlu Ö (2001). Aphrodisias tarihsel su iletimi  
(Aphrodisias historical water transmission), Diploma Projesi  
(Diploma Project), Mühendislik Fakültesi (Engineering Faculty),  
Pamukkale Üniversitesi, Denizli, Türkiye.  
The Yenidere (Timeles) waterway, which has transmitted  
water to the ancient city of Aphrodisias, is to be examined,  
thoroughly preserved, carefully protected, and one of the  
rare examples of water transfer between the basins, as well  
as the international quality of the tunnel section. is  
important.  
Öziş Ü (2015a) Tarihi su yapıları açısından Türkiye’nin dünya’daki  
önemi (Turkey's importance in the world in terms of historical  
water structures). İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi Vakfı Dergisi  
(Journal of Istanbul Technical University Foundation), 70, 49-51.  
Öziş Ü. (2015b). Water works through four millenia in Turkey.  
Environmental  
Processes.  
2(3):  
559-73.  
DECLARATIONS  
Öziş Ü, Baykan O, Atalay A, Arısoy Y, Alkan A, Özdemir Y (2014).  
Historische Wasserbauten in der Türkei, Wasserwirtschaft, 7/8, 83-86.  
Acknowledgment  
The authors directed Prof. Dr. Turhan Acatay, Prof.  
Dr. Orhan Baykan and Civil Engineer. To Ersel Tanrıöver;  
Meral Çakır, Özcan Verim, Refik Afşar, Oktay Gündoğdu,  
Özgü Süleymanoğlu, Yüksel Taşer, Angela Commito and  
Felipe Reyes, who carried out the works; Em. Prof. Dr. for  
their support in the preparation of this paper. We offer our  
thanks to Ünal Öziş.  
Öziş Ü, Atalay A, Becerik M, Özdikmen K (2005). Tunnelstrecken in  
Qanatbauweise: der Kenchrios-(Değirmendere)-Fernwasserleitung  
nach Ephesus, Internationales Frontinus-Symposium 2003 in  
Walferdange und weitere Beiträge zur Wasserversorgung aus  
Qanaten - Qanate als Vorbilder im Tunnelbau (Schriftenreihe der  
Frontinus-Gesellschaft), Bonn, Almanya, 26, 293-300. Google  
Öziş Ü (1994). Su mühendisliği tarihi açısından Türkiyedeki eski su  
yapıları (Turkey oldest water works in the history of water  
engineering). Devlet Su İşleri (State Hydraulic Works), Ankara,  
Competing interests  
The author declares that he has no competing  
interests.  
Süleymanoğlu Ö, Gündoğdu O, Baykan O, Tanrıöver  
E (2008).  
Afrodisias (Aphrodisias/Karacasu/Aydın) 1978-2001, Tarihi su  
yapıları konferansı bildiriler kitabı (Book of Conference on  
historical structures of water structures), DSİ II. Bölge Müdürlüğü  
(State Hydraulic Works II. Regional Office), İzmir, Türkiye, 157-  
160  
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