Gaziantep flourishing as new museum destination

GAZİANTEP - Anatolia News Agency

Gaziantep, which is famous for its Zeugma Museum, the world’s largest mosaic museum that houses mosaics unearthed from the ancient city of Zeugma, will attract visitors with its newly opened museums including the Bath Museum, Toy Museum and Atatürk Memorial Museum. The construction the new museums has started.

Turkey’s Gaziantep is already famous for its many museums and attracts Turkish and foreign tourists alike. Now the city readies to become a “museum city” with the addition of newly planned museums.

Gaziantep, famous for its Zeugma Museum that houses mosaics unearthed from the ancient city of Zeugma, plans to attract visitors with its newly opened museums including the Bath Museum, Toy Museum and Atatürk Memorial Museum. Construction of these three museums has already started.

Gaziantep Mayor Asım Güzelbey told the Anatolia news agency the future of the city lies in its tourism potential. The city plans to build 10 museums within the next 10 years, including the three currently under construction, he said.

The Toy Museum will open in a historical Gaziantep mansion and will be organized within the system of Sunay Akın, the founder of the Istanbul Toy Museum, according to information acquired by the Anatolia news agency from the Gaziantep Municipality Department of Culture.

The city’s museum will be a more developed version of the Toy Museum found in Istanbul’s Göztepe district. The Gaziantep Toy Museum will not only exhibit old toys but will also exhibit how the development of civilization is reflected through toys.

The exhibition will include a rich collection of rag dolls and wooden toys that will be used to tell the history of Turkey. The museum will also include events for kids to help them develop their imaginations.

The Bath Museum will exhibit Turkish bath culture through displays of Turkish baths. Güzelbey said they plan to turn an ancient Turkish bath into the museum.

“We hope to depict this in a new way. We will exhibit a model of what Turkish baths were like using models and music,” Güzelbey said. The museum will also include cultural music of Gaziantep titled “Antep’s Baths.”

Sema Marangoz, president of the Gaziantep Municipality Department of Culture, said Gaziantep has very significant and concrete cultural heritage and the city hopes to reflect this heritage in its museums.

Currently, Gaziantep’s museums include the Museum of Archaeology, Hasan Süzer Ethnography Museum, Medusa Museum of Glass, War Museum, Defense Museum, Emine Göğüş Cuisine Museum and Museum of Works of Armenian Coppersmiths.

The next museum to be built will be the Industrial Museum, Güzelbey said. The Department of Culture plans to reflect the industrial growth of Turkey and depict its train and railway infrastructure through the museum.

Mansion to be home of Atatürk Memorial Museum

The newly restored Antep Mansion at Yeni Bey Street will become the Atatürk Memorial Museum. The plan for that museum follows a less traditional concept: The museum collection will include messages from Aatatürk and will provide an intimate insight into the leader by exhibiting his personal belongings and writings.

The museum will not only display the artifacts of Atatürk, it will also tell the stories of others who played an important role in Turkey’s history. The Atatürk Memorial Museum will be the first of its kind. Research and acquisition of artifacts are still underway for the museum. The museum will also include Atatürk’s wax sculpture. The sculpture is currently being made in the United States. The sculpture’s mouth will have the ability to move, which will allow the sculpture to move its mouth and simulate Atatürk speaking.