Kütahya Archaeology Museum opens with millenia-old artifacts

KÜTAHYA

The works in the museum have been restored at the Ankara Regional Laboratory for Restoration and Conservation.

Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy inaugurated the Kütahya Archaeology and Mining Museum on Sept. 30, describing it as a new cultural and artistic venue reflecting the city’s ancient heritage.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Ersoy said he was pleased to bring a new cultural and artistic space to Kütahya, a city that carries the heritage of ancient Anatolian civilizations through its long history stretching from the Phrygians, Romans and Byzantines to the Seljuks, Germiyanoğulları and Ottomans.

Ersoy said museum activities in Kütahya had a 90-year history and that thousands of years-old artifacts from the region had been brought to light, with the number of objects in the collections also increasing.

“For the first time during this 90-year journey, we have brought together Kütahya’s archaeological heritage, city and ethnography collections, tile-making tradition, production and mining heritage and our approach to museum education for children under one roof,” Ersoy said.

“This allows our visitors to experience Kütahya’s story not as separate pieces, but together with the cultural layers that have complemented one another over thousands of years,” he added.

Providing information about the museum, Ersoy said it was the result of a long-term project launched with a protocol signed in 2013 between the Culture and Tourism Ministry, the Kütahya Governor’s Office and the General Directorate of Turkish Coal Enterprises.

He said a cultural and artistic venue bringing the past together with the future had been created through project and construction work that began in 2015 and continued over an extended period.

The building will also house the Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism and the Directorate of Surveying and Monuments, in addition to the Museum Directorate, making it a center for the protection and management of Kütahya’s cultural heritage, Ersoy said.

The museum has sections devoted to “Archaeology,” “City and Ethnography,” “Tiles,” “Mining” and “Children.”

A total of 62,701 artifacts will be preserved at the museum, including 30,959 archaeological objects, 4,078 ethnographic artifacts and 27,664 coins. Around 3,300 artifacts are currently on display.

Artifacts from Aizanoi excavations on display

Ersoy said the government had launched the “Heritage for the Future” project, described as the most comprehensive excavation and restoration initiative in the history of the Republic, and that a significant portion of the artifacts to be displayed at the museum came from excavations at the ancient city of Aizanoi, which are being conducted year-round under the project, as well as rescue excavations in the region, particularly at Seyitömer Mound.

He said artifacts uncovered at Tavşanlı Mound, where excavations began in 2022 and which was later included in the year-round excavation program, would also be displayed at the museum as they are brought to light.

“Our collection also includes depictions of Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem dating from 1816-1817, known as Hajj certificates,” Ersoy said.

“These works were found in 2022, when members of the Kütahya Regional Board for the Protection of Cultural Heritage were conducting an inspection at the mosque in Parmakören village. They had been wedged into a hole in the mosque wall,” he said.

Ersoy said the works were restored to their original condition through meticulous work by experts at the Ankara Regional Laboratory for Restoration and Conservation and returned to the city to which they belonged.

Emphasizing that museums are not merely places where cultural assets are preserved and displayed, Ersoy said they were being designed as living institutions where research, education, culture and art meet society, strengthening cultural memory and shaping the cultural life of cities.

He said the Kütahya Archaeology and Mining Museum had also been designed according to this approach.

“This is a living cultural center that appeals to different age and interest groups with its 150-seat conference hall, temporary exhibition area, children’s museum and restaurant,” Ersoy said.

“We particularly attach importance to the children’s museum, where our children can encounter our cultural heritage at an early age and learn about history and archaeology by touching, seeing and experiencing them,” he added.

Addressing parents, Ersoy urged them to include the museum in plans for family time.

“Let your children gradually become familiar with the memory of these lands, from ancient cities and tiles to daily life and mining,” he said. “Opening a door in their minds to history, culture and art from the earliest possible age will be extremely valuable and beneficial.”

“Our unique historical and cultural heritage places a great responsibility on us,” Ersoy said. “With this awareness of responsibility, we will continue to protect, research and explain each of our cultural assets, ensuring that they are understood and passed on to future generations.”

He said the museum, which brings together different parts of Kütahya’s thousands-of-years-old story, contained many stories and much information for visitors to discover.