The famous Zeugma Mosaic Museum in Gaziantep province (southeastern Turkey), considered the largest mosaic museum in the world, which among other famous pieces exhibits the famous ‘Zeugma Gypsy’, has received more than 3.5 million visitors since its opening on 9 September 2011, which is now 14 years ago.
In statements made to the Turkish news agency Anatolia, the director of the Gaziantep Museum, Özgür Çomak, underlined the enormous importance of the Zeugma Museum worldwide thanks to its Greek and Roman mosaics and the more than 150 objects it exhibits, especially the ‘Gypsy’ mosaic, of which Turkey recovered 12 pieces stolen in the 1960s and which were on display in a museum in Ohio (USA) in 2018.
“This year we have already reached 385,000 visitors. With autumn tourism, we expect to exceed last year’s visitor numbers by the end of the year. We have made a strong start in 2025 in terms of visitor numbers: on 17 May, we set a daily record with 8,167 visitors. Now that autumn is approaching, tourist tours are coming more frequently: the ‘Gypsy girl’ is not only a treasure of Turkey, it is an internationally recognised work of art,” Çomak said.
Located in the Şehitkamil district of the southeastern city of Gaziantep, the Zeugma Mosaic Museum sits on the site of the ancient city of Zeugma, which began to be excavated by archaeologists in 1998: Roman-era villas adorned with luxurious mosaics were unearthed here, among which the famous ‘Gypsy of Zeugma’ was found, along with many other objects from the period. To display them, the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism built the current museum, which opened in 2011 and is considered to be the largest in the world: its 33,000 square metres of space house 1,700 square metres of mosaics, surpassing the also famous Bardo National Museum in Tunisia.
VOTE
EDITORIAL TEAM
🧿 About us
.
Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
…
📣 Your ADVERTISING on Hispanatolia
.
🤗 HELP US WITH A DONATION:
💗 Paypal
