Experts using artificial intelligence have finished restoring a 2,000-year-old lighthouse that was built by the Roman Emperor Nero.
The Patara lighthouse, located in the ancient city of Patara, in the Kas district of Antalya, in Turkey, measures 26.5 metres (86.94 feet) high.
Picture shows the 2000-year-old Patara lighthouse in Turkey, undated. Its restoration has been completed. Note: Image is a screenshot from video. (Newsflash/NX)
It was completely destroyed in a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Rhodes in 1481, with 2,500 stones that belonged to the original building unearthed during archaeological excavations.
The stones were then analysed using artificial intelligence to work out where they should go in the structure.
The work was meticulously carried out by the head of the excavation operation, Professor Havva Iskan Isik, who launched the excavations 32 years ago alongside her husband, Professor Fahri Isik.
The restoration work reportedly started in 2020 and has been ongoing for five years.
Picture shows the 2000-year-old Patara lighthouse in Turkey, undated. Its restoration has been completed. Note: Image is a screenshot from video. (Newsflash/NX)
The lighthouse is located in what was once called Lycia, a region in Anatolia that existed from the 15th century BC to 546 BC.
It changed hands a number of times, being at times controlled by the Romans, Alexander the Great, the Seleucid Empire, the Ptolemaic Kingdom and others.
The professor said: "The tower restoration of the lighthouse built by Emperor Nero after him in Patara, the capital of the Provincia Lycia, or Lycia State, established by Roman Emperor Claudius in 43 AD, has been completed.
Picture shows the 26.5-metre high lighthouse, which was built by Emperor Nero in the ancient city of Patara in 60 AD, and was destroyed by a tsunami in 1481. Note: Picture is a screenshot from a video (Newsflash)
"After the final checks, the scaffolding will be dismantled, and the tower crane will be removed. My excitement is as great as my labour.”
Hundreds of artefacts have been unearthed during the excavations, as well as 2,500 stones from the original lighthouse before its destruction in the Rhodes earthquake.
The stones were found in 2000, with reports saying that the new structure uses 80 per cent original stones and 20 per cent new stones.
Picture shows the 26.5-metre high lighthouse, which was built by Emperor Nero in the ancient city of Patara in 60 AD, and was destroyed by a tsunami in 1481. Note: Picture is a screenshot from a video (Newsflash)
The lighthouse, which is said to have been a prestige project of Roman Emperor Nero, has an inscription on it that includes information about who built it and the date of its construction.
The stone inscriptions unearthed during the excavations include the following inscription addressed to the Patara Council and the governor of the Patara people at the time, Sextus Marcius: "We thank you for governing the Lycian people fairly for eight years without taking any bribes and for decorating our city with beautiful structures."
(Joseph Golder/newsX)