Kuşkayası Monument: Roman Road Memorial Above Amasra

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1. What is Kuşkayası Monument?
2. How do you get to Kuşkayası Monument?
3. When is the best time to visit Kuşkayası Monument?
4. What is the history of Kuşkayası Monument?
5. What is Kuşkayası Monument famous for?
6. What can you see at Kuşkayası Monument?
7. Frequently asked questions about Kuşkayası Monument
8. What do the official records say about Kuşkayası Monument?

What is Kuşkayası Monument?

The Kuşkayası Monument (Kuşkayası Yol Anıtı, the “Bird Rock road monument”) is a Roman memorial cut into the rock beside the old road into Amasra. It marks the building of a road in the reign of Emperor Claudius and consists of a niche with a standing human figure, an eagle and an inscription in Latin and Greek.

It is small, it takes ten minutes to see, and it is easy to drive past. But it is one of the very few Roman road monuments of its kind in Türkiye, and the forest setting above Amasra, with glimpses of the sea, makes it a worthwhile stop on the way into town.

How do you get to Kuşkayası Monument?

The monument is about 4 km from Amasra, south of the D.010 road that links Amasra with Bartın. A staircase leads up from the road to the rock face. Minibuses between Bartın and Amasra use this road, but it is simpler to come by car or taxi from Amasra.

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When is the best time to visit Kuşkayası Monument?

Any time of year, in daylight. Combine it with a day in Amasra; in summer, when the town is crowded, it makes a quiet break in the forest. The steps can be slippery after rain.

What is the history of Kuşkayası Monument?

The monument was commissioned by Gaius Julius Aquila, procurator of the province of Bithynia and Pontus, who according to the inscription had twice served as praefectus fabrum and paid for the work himself. The inscription dedicates the work to the Augustan peace and to the emperor Tiberius Claudius Germanicus (AD 41–54), and records the cutting of a road and the laying out of a recreation area. It also names the consuls Aulus Gabinius Secundus and Titus Statilius Taurus.

At the time Amastris belonged to the Roman province of Bithynia and Pontus, which explains why the province’s procurator, the emperor’s financial official, put his name to the work. A praefectus fabrum was originally an officer in charge of military engineers and craftsmen, an appropriate background for a man who sponsored a road through this steep, forested country.

The monument stands in what was then the territory of Amastris, as Amasra was called, in Paphlagonia. The Latin and Greek versions of the inscription complement each other, so that gaps in one can be filled from the other.

The monument has suffered over the centuries. Both the human figure and the eagle have lost their heads, and the fountain that once stood here has gone. A scholarly study titled “Decapitation and Dynamite”, published in the journal CLARA, examines the damage done to it. In recent years the monument has also been defaced with spray paint, which drew public criticism in Türkiye.

What is Kuşkayası Monument famous for?

• Rarity: a rock-cut Roman road monument, described as unique in Türkiye.
• The bilingual inscription, in Latin and Greek, naming Claudius and Gaius Julius Aquila.
• The figure and eagle, a human figure about 2.6 m tall, perhaps the emperor or the governor, beside a Roman eagle.

What can you see at Kuşkayası Monument?

The niche and figure. The standing figure, about 260 cm tall, is carved in a niche in the rock. Its head is missing, so it is impossible to say whether it represents Claudius or Aquila.

The eagle. Beside the figure, the Roman eagle, also headless.

The inscription. The Latin and Greek texts are cut into the smoothed rock. The two versions together name Claudius and Aquila and describe the road works.

The view. From the monument at around 350 m you see over part of Amasra and the Black Sea through the trees.

Continue to Amasra for the castle and museum, where many of the region’s Roman finds are displayed.

Frequently asked questions about Kuşkayası Monument

What do the official records say about Kuşkayası Monument?

Within the historical region of Paphlagonia there are many ancient cities. Of these, Sesamos (Amasra), Kromna (Kurucaşile) and Erythinoi (Çakraz) are within the borders of Bartın. The place where archaeological sites are seen most is Amasra district. The castle in the town centre with the coats of arms on it, two churches, the bedesten, the Kuşkayası Road Monument (the only one in the world) and the Hermit’s Cave count as the visible face of the ancient city. (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Bartın Provincial Tourism Inventory, 2002)

Main photo: Nedim Ardoğa at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.