The Kyzikos Peninsula and the islands around

At the age of 28, Reşit Mazhar Ertüzün (1917-2010) was appointed as a young and idealistic District Governor in Erdek and would dedicate his life to the promotion of the history and archaeology of the Kapıdağı Peninsula and the protection of this heritage. The event that pushed Ertüzün to this endeavor was his realization that the marble columns of the Temple of Hadrian and the statues of gods/goddesses were made of gravel and lime. One of the lime quarry workers told him: “How was I to know that one day a district governor would try to collect these stones? I burned such statues in the quarry that naked women would still laugh at me even when they were lime. After this event, which was a milestone for Ertüzün, the young district governor spent all the time he had left from his administrative duties collecting the unknown finds in Kapıdağı and transporting them to the open-air museum established on his initiative. Ertüzün not only worked to preserve the antiquities, but also kept detailed notes on the history of Kapıdağı/Kyzikos, drawing on Ottoman, Greek and French sources. He finally published his notes under the title Kapıdağı Peninsula and the Surrounding Islands. This book, which the British ancient historian S.R.F Price referred to as “the most complete work on the archaeology of Kyzikos and its environs”, is one of the most concrete indicators of Ertüzün’s personal effort. This book is a masterpiece of local history.