Aphrodisias ruins on virtual environment

AYDIN

Museums and ruins on the UNESCO World Heritage List have been put on a virtual environment as people follow stay-at-home orders during World Museum Week, giving an experience to audiences online to enjoy magnificent images.

The world-famous Aphrodisias Ancient City and Museum, located in Karacasu district of the western province of Aydın and closed due to a pandemic, is one of the many ancient sites to have been moved to the virtual world for the first time.

Today, the ancient city of Aphrodisias, which is an important asset visited by more than 250,000 local and foreign tourists annually, is deprived of its visitors due to the coronavirus that has engulfed the world. Like many others, the museum and the ancient city have been closed for some time as part of the measures against the virus. But officials plan to host visitors again on June 1.

Aydın Provincial Culture and Tourism Director Kenan Çiftçi and the Aphrodisias Museum Director Tenzile Uysal checked preparations such as installing thermal cameras at the entrance and works for disinfection.

“Our museum will open its doors to visitors as of June 1, following the measures announced by the Culture and Tourism Ministry. Within the scope of coronavirus measures, all of our staff will wear masks and gloves during the visiting hours. At the entrance of the ruins, temperatures of our visitors will be screened and they will enter the area over hygiene mats. They will also be required to wear masks. At the same time, we will inform the visitors about social distancing rules,” said Uysal.

Çiftçi said that museums are institutions created to display societies’ science and art products and wealth, adding, “With the Museum Day established by the International Council of Museums and celebrated worldwide on May 18 every year since 1977, an aim to display the role of museums on the development of society to the public and create public awareness in this direction is planned. However, due to coronavirus this year, we wanted to celebrate Museum Day by bringing the Aphrodisias Museum and ruins, which were registered on the World Heritage List by UNESCO in 2017, to your home.”

The museum can be visited on the website afrodisias360.com

Aphrodisias

The ancient city of Aphrodisias is made up mainly of two components: The archaeological site of Aphrodisias and the marble quarries. The temple of Aphrodite dates back to the 3rd century B.C. The city streets are arranged around several large civic structures, which include temples, a theater, an agora, and two bath complexes.

The site was included on the world heritage list at the 41st UNESCO World Heritage Committee session in Krakow, Poland in 2017.