Heritage Protection Service
Office of the Governor of Irad
Heritage Protection Service
State Register of Monuments of History and Culture
State Emblem of Irad
Attention! Kara-Suu Canyon mouth: excavation site closed to visitors, no photography (permit No. 07/2026) · Rabat-i-Safed winter hours from 1 November: 10:00-16:00 · Finds of church property made before 1992 must be declared within ten days · Drones prohibited over Cathedral Hill, Iyık Janyl
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Permits and finds

Excavation permits

No digging, survey with metal detectors or collection of finds may be carried out at a registered monument or in its protection zone without an excavation permit (heritage ordinance 1997, art. 14). Permits are issued for one season to Talas State University, to museums and to foreign institutions working with them. Applications for the season close on 1 March. The report on each season is due by 1 February of the following year.

Works on monuments

Repairs, building, extra storeys and new services on a registered monument or in a protection zone (including the Old City of Talas) need the Service's written approval. Apply on form HPS-3 with drawings. The Service answers within 30 days.

Finds: the ten-day rule

Declare your findUnder the 2010 amendment to the heritage ordinance, any find of church property made before 1992 (chalices, crosses, censers, icons, bells, books) is state property until claimed and must be declared to the Service within ten days. The finder receives a quarter of its valuation. Other archaeological finds are declared in the same way. Searching old chapel sites with metal detectors is prohibited.

The Service does not comment on cases before the courts, including the Tegirmen chalice (Talas District Court).

Filming and photography permits

Commercial photography and filming at monuments need a filming permit from the Service; at the Church of St. Janyl also the written consent of the archeparchy. Drones need a separate permit and are never allowed over Cathedral Hill or in the restricted zone of the Qara-Chik line.

Application

Online applications are not accepted yet. Please print the form, sign it and bring it to the Service, 14 Köhne Diz Street, Talas (office 3), Mon-Fri 9:00-17:00. Finds may also be handed in at any Gendarmerie post, which will give you a receipt.