Area D: the Hittite Palace

During the geomagnetic survey of the southern slope of the acropolis, a large building was identified (Building III), the remains of which stretch for about 60m in an east-west direction. The excavations begun in the summer of 2015, running for 8 metres east-west and for 20m down the slope, brought to light a part of this building. The walls are without mortar, with two sides in flat stones and a nucleus of stone and bricks, whilst the floor are of beaten earth. To date, the large room and a narrower space which appears to be a corridor have been uncovered. A wall of large granite blocks, well dressed and positioned with rounded joints in line with a Hittite technique well known from public and ceremonial buildings, forms the base of the structure on its southern side. This façade, three rows of which have been preserved, can be clearly seen from the plain. The architectonic technique, size and position enable us to identify this as a palace of the Hittite period.