Turkey’s largest museum complex to open soon

ŞANLIURFA - Anadolu Agency

The Haleplibahçe Museum Complex will include an archaeology park and mosaic museums over an area of nearly 200,000 square meters. It will be the largest such complex in Turkey.

A big project in the field of culture and tourism is being realized in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa, the main city of which is regarded as the world’s oldest city due to the “temple center” and the remains in Göbeklitepe. When finished, the Haleplibahçe Museum Complex, which will include an archaeology park and mosaic museums over an area of nearly 200,000 square meters, will be the largest such complex in Turkey.

The Warrior Amazon Women mosaics, which were unearthed a few years ago during the foundation excavation of a themed park project and are estimated to date back to the 5th and 6th century A.D., caused a stir in the archaeology community. The mosaics were located in the grounds of an official’s palace in the Roman period and experts classified these mosaics as among the world’s most valuable.

The Haleplibahçe project was changed after the discovery over fears that the findings could be damaged during the transportation. The new project, the Haleplibahçe Museum Complex, was initiated and accelerated with an order from the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.

Şanlıurfa Museum Director Müslüm Ercan said the Haleplibahçe Museum Complex was seen as one of the most prestigious projects realized by the Culture and Tourism Ministry. He said that works were almost completed, adding that 80 percent of the outer façade of the complex had been finished and installments in the inner space would be finished soon. “We are now focusing on merchandizing works,” he said.

Ercan said they would start carrying artworks to the museum in three months. “Visitors who want to come to this museum need to spare a lot of time. The complex is the largest one in Turkey in terms of its size. Turkey does not have any other museum covering an area of 200,000 square-meters. A 30,000 square meter area of this huge space is the closed area of the archaeology museum,” he said.

Mosaic section

He added that works were continuing in the mosaic section of the museum complex. “Works are also continuing in the mosaics section where people previously visited. The cover coat is about to be finished and the mosaics will open to visitors again after a simple restoration process. The archeopark and the mosaic museum will form a whole together. Visitors of the complex will also be able to see the historic Şanlıurfa Fortress and the Balıklıgöl, which are very close to the complex,” he said, adding that hotels and other facilities were also close to the complex area.

“Minister of Labor and Social Security Faruk Çelik and Culture and Tourism Minister Ömer Çelik are closely following the project. We want to finish it and open it to visitors soon. A team of seven people from the ministry has visited the complex. We are working on merchandising with these people,” Ercan said.