Museum to be home to Karun Treasures

UŞAK - Anatolia News Agency

AA photos

A new archaeology museum, which is under construction in the western province of Uşak, will have a special display area for world famous Karun Treasures.

The Uşak Archaeology Museum, which is being constructed next to the Uşak Train Station, will include three floors on a 2,450 square-meter area. The architect of the museum, Metin Keskin, said the project “reflected the features of contemporary architecture.”

“There are also plans to reorganize the region where the museum is being constructed as a ‘Uşak Cultural Site,’ and the museum is the first leg of this project,” Keskin said.

He said that various structures such as a railway museum, carpet museum and cultural center would also be realized in the region in the future, and stressed that the new museum would be protected by smart security systems.

“The museum is being constructed in parallel with the situation of the area and the railway. The existence of registered and unregistered structures in the area was the main factors in the planning, which also foresees the evaluation of railway buildings in the archeopark. Accordingly, the north half of the area, where railway buildings are located, has been planned as an open display area and the café will be in this area. The three-storey building will have depots and ateliers in the basement floor and exhibition areas. The management department in the basement floor has been planned separately from the exhibition areas and the seminar hall. There will be a venue for information, books and gift products in the entrance of the museum,” Keskin stated.

The best known piece of the Karun Treasures
is the winged seahorse brooch, which was
recently returned to Turkey from Germany.

Nearly 45,000 works of art

He added that there are nearly 45,000 works of art at the Uşak Archaeology Museum, most of which are in good condition for exhibition. He said they would prepare a special exhibition hall in the museum for the priceless 451-piece Karun Treasures, belonging to the Lydian king Krezus. Most parts of the treasure are small pieces of great historical significance, said Keskin, adding that they would be exhibited in a large area with special lighting system for each one.

Keskin also emphasized that the new museum enabled visitors with disabilities to reach all areas easily, and that a different place had been formed for children’s education. As for the security systems of the museum, he said it would be fully covered. “The museum will be equipped with special security systems. It will have full protection against all inside and outside threats. Fire extinction systems will be determined according to the artworks,” Keskin said.

Uşak Governor Mehmet Ufuk Erden said the Karun Treasures represented the brand of the city and that the museum, which will be finished in 2014, was very important for the local area. “With the establishment of the new museum the treasures will be displayed in a more appropriate environment,” Erden said.