Underground venue tells ceramics history

NEVŞEHİR

The Cappadocia Underground Ceramic Museum, which is set to open in July, has been established in a rock carved space. AA photo

The owner of a ceramic company in the central province of Nevşehir’s Avanos district has opened a ceramic museum in a rock carved space underground. The Cappadocia Underground Ceramic Museum covers an area of 1,500 square meters and is 15 meters deep.

The owner of the museum, Güray Tüysüz said the history of potters dated back to the ancient ages. He said Avanos had a very significant place in the arts of pottery since the time of the Hittites, but has not had a museum depicting its history.

Tüysüz said his family had been dealing with pottery and ceramics for the last five generations and establishing the museum took some time since the area was an archaeological site. Following five years of work, they established the rock-carved museum, he said, adding Turkey’s first underground museum, which has three sections with eight-10 rooms each, was set to open in July.

Tüysüz said the museum did not have financial motivations, but it was a cultural project of their family. “This is a gift from us for the next generations. It will be affiliated with the Culture and Tourism Ministry.
 
All of the 650 artifacts on display have been registered with the Nevşehir Museum Directorate. We have paid for most of the artifacts. Our applications to the Nevşehir Museum Directorate were welcomed. It took 15 years to gather the artifacts and finally we received our collector certificate. Some people donated their artifacts to the museum. A German company sponsored the complete central heating system. The Ahiler Development Agency granted 160,000 Turkish Liras as well. The main issue here was the convenience of the rock. But it was hard and we finished the project.” he said.

Tüysüz said the first section of the museum would show the developments in the field of ceramics in Anatolia from the first age to the 20th century and the second section would display pieces by living famous ceramic artists. An exhibition area would be opened in the third section, he said, and continued: “The café and library are in this section. It will serve as a museum during the day and host meetings, with events and concerts at night.”

Tüysüz also noted the prestige meetings of the Nevşehir Governor’s Office, university and municipality would be held in the museum, adding it would also be open to students. “This project is the first in Turkey and maybe in the world.”