Museum, ancient site visitors rose 17 pct last year in Turkey

ISTANBUL

Mevlana Museum

The number of visitors to museums and ancient sites affiliated with the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry rose 17 percent in 2017, compared to the previous year, hitting 20.5 million.

According to a written statement made by the ministry, this year the number of visitors are expected to increase a further 20 percent and reach 25 million. 

In 2016, 17.5 million people visited museums and ancient sites. In 2017, this number was 20.5 million. 

In line with increasing visitor numbers, the revenues of museums and ancient sites increased by 13 percent in 2017 and reached nearly 190 million Turkish Liras. 

The Mevlana Museum in the central Anatolian province of Konya was the most visited venue last year with 2.5 million people. The Topkapı Palace Museum in Istanbul came second, with two million visitors. The Hagia Sophia Museum ranked third with 1.9 million visitors. Hierapolis in Pamukkale in the western province of Denizli ranked fourth with 1.5 million visitors and the Ephesus Ancient Site in İzmir ranked fifth with 996,800 visitors. 

The ancient city of Göreme and Hacıbektaş Museum in the central Anatolian province of Nevşehir received 682,785 and 498,880 visitors respectively. 

Other sought after venues include the Ihlara Valley in central Aksaray with 386,590 people, the Cumhuriyet Museum in Ankara with 360,879 people and Topkapı Palace’s Seraglio section, which requires a ticket different to the museum ticket, with 353,285 people. 

According to the 2016-2017 comparison of the number of museum and ancient site visitors, the Kaymaklı Underground City in Nevşehir received 97 percent more visitors last year and ranked first in terms of increased visitor numbers.

Hacıbektaş Museum followed with a 63-percent increase in visitors. The rate of increase was 53 percent in the Pamukkale ancient site and 32 percent in the Hagia Sophia Museum and Topkapı Palace Museum. 

The number of users of the Müzekart (Museum Card), which can only be bought by Turkish citizens, was 903,246 in 2016 and increased by 17.5 percent to 1,065,966 in 2017.