The Location of the discovery, source: Google Earth

The oldest discovered parliament building in human history will soon house the heads of the world’s parliaments.

Once the on-going restoration works of the building are completed, the head of Turkey’s parliament will host the gathering of the international parliamentarians, the Milliyet newspaper reported today.

The antique parliament building is located in the ancient town of Patara, near the modern town of Kaş in Turkey’s Antalya province. Dating to the second century BC, the structure has a capacity of 1,455 people.

The site was used for parliamentary assembly by the Lycian League – a union established in 168 BC and comprised of 23 city-states as members. Administered with democratic principles, each member state sent two or three senates to the parliament. The Union continued to function after becoming a province of the Roman Empire in 46 AD. After being taken over by the Byzantine Empire in the fourth century AD, the Union was abandoned and the building’s use was discontinued.

The Turkish Parliament, according to the publication, donated 5 million Turkish lira (around 2,393,000 euro) for the ancient building’s restoration, which is expected to be completed in June 2010.

Source: balkantravellers