Hatay and Gaziantep have the largest mosaic museums in Turkey. The works in museums bear the traces of the period they belong to.
Numerous mosaics unearthed during excavations in Hatay, which has hosted many civilizations for thousands of years, archaeology and Necmi Asfuroğlu Archaeological Museums. Mosaic works, mostly dating back to the 2nd and 6th centuries AD, reflect the traces of the period to which they belong.It houses a large collection of mosaicsHatay Archeology Museum, which was opened in the city in 1948 but was moved to its new location in 2014 because it could no longer meet the needs, contains a very large mosaic collection. Necmi Asfuroğlu Archeology Museum, which was opened to tourism last year, was a "public area" in the 6th century AD. It stands out with its single-piece floor mosaic of 1200 square meters, which is considered to have been used as a historical city. Both monuments are of great importance for the historical city of Hatay. museum makes a splash not only in Turkey but also abroad with its mosaic collections.
Zeugma Mosaic Museum
Zeugma Mosaic Museum in Gaziantep, which hosts thousands of local and foreign tourists with its ancient cities and historical buildings, offers visitors an unforgettable historical atmosphere with the works it houses.
Established on a total area of 30 thousand square meters, 25 thousand square meters of which is closed, in the Şehitkamil district, the museum hosts many unique artifacts unearthed during the excavations in the Zeugma Ancient City, located in the Nizip district and on the banks of the Euphrates River.
It stands out with its “Gypsy Girl” mosaic
The museum covers an area of 2,500 square meters, including mosaics, sculptures, columns, architectural structures and fountains from the Roman and Byzantine periods.
It stands out especially with the "Gypsy Girl" mosaic, which is seen as the "Mona Lisa" of Zeugma and was returned to Turkey from the USA after 52 years. in Roman times war The statue of Mars, known as the god of Mars, is also among the interesting works of the museum.
The mosaics in the museum, which received the "Presidential Culture and Arts Grand Award" and is considered to be one of the largest in the world in terms of its building and the area covered by the mosaics, arouse admiration in its visitors.
“The most important mosaic museum in the world”
Gaziantep Museum Director Özgür Çomak said, “This is the first museum built within the framework of contemporary museology in our country. "Our museum is the most important mosaic museum in the world," he said.
Explaining that the mosaics in the museum differ from others, Çomak gave the following information:
“The works in the museum were brought from the field one by one. This is actually a kind of living museum. Our museum has an exhibition concept that explains the living museum very well. The mosaics in all our museums in the world and Anatolia can reach up to 9 to 10 color scales, but the mosaics in the Zeugma Mosaic Museum consist of 13 different color scales. Naturally colored stones extracted from the Euphrates River were used in the mosaics. We have mosaics in our museum that show 3D features. Mosaics generally include scenes from Roman and Greek mythology and mythological gods. Fish and the rich plants around the Euphrates River were processed. The most important of these is, of course, the Gypsy Girl.”
Çomak announced that the museum hosted 350 thousand visitors in 2019, that the number dropped to 90 thousand last year due to the epidemic, and that 15 thousand tourists came here in the first 3 months of this year.
Source:TRT News
