The Van Museum, hailed as "the richest museum in the world" for its Urartian artifacts, invites visitors to explore its extensive collection from various historical periods, including the Urartians, Romans, Byzantines, Seljuks, Akkoyunlus, Karakoyunlus and Ottomans, all set within a striking contemporary architectural design since its opening in 2019.
Built on a 50,000-square-meter (538,195-square-foot) area, with 10,000 square meters indoors, as part of the Ministry of Development's "Program to Support Attraction Centers," the museum displays around 3,000 out of more than 42,000 artifacts, primarily from the Urartians and various other civilizations.
In addition to its unique historical artifacts, the museum features diorama sections depicting the lifestyles and wars of civilizations, organized in chronological order across 23 halls, and includes archaeological education areas for children, offering visitors a journey through time.
Van Museum Director Erdal Acar told Anadolu Agency (AA) that Van, one of the oldest cities in the world, has a history that extends from the Paleolithic period to the Seljuk and Ottoman eras.
Noting that Van has hosted many civilizations due to its location on the Silk Road, Acar said: "After the earthquake disaster that struck our province in 2011, we moved to the new museum building as the old one in the city center was damaged. The foundation of our new museum building was laid in 2012, and it opened to visitors in 2019 after the completion of exhibition arrangements. The museum has 23 halls displaying artifacts in chronological order from the Paleolithic period to the Islamic period. Additionally, we have a conference hall, exhibition rooms, workshops for children, play areas, classrooms, resting areas, and sales stands."
Emphasizing the importance of museums in passing cultural heritage to future generations, Acar explained that new artifacts are acquired each year through excavations, surface surveys, donations, and purchases.
Highlighting that the museum houses over 42,000 artifacts, Acar said: "This makes the Van Museum one of the museums in Türkiye with the most artifacts. The Van Museum holds the world's largest collection of Urartian artifacts. Besides exhibiting, preserving, and storing these artifacts, necessary restoration and conservation work is also carried out in our museum's laboratories."
Acar also mentioned that Van Castle and Van Akdamar Island are affiliated with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism: "Last year, nearly 60,000 people visited the museum and Van Castle. Akdamar Island hosted around 175,000 visitors. In the first three months of 2024, we have already reached a total of 55,000 visitors. Excavations in the region are ongoing, and the artifacts found will be added to our museum for public viewing in the future."
Visitor Gül Savaş, seeing the Van Museum for the first time, said: "A lot of effort has been put into this. It's been very well done and is a great asset for Van. It is a beautiful city, valuable with its lake, castle, museum and people. Our time here is well spent."
Burçin Demirkan expressed her admiration for the museum, saying: "There are detailed explanations. The museum includes the history of not just Van but also nearby regions. It is very detailed and clearly presented. The dioramas are very realistic. It's like a journey through history. I had gathered some information before coming here. This is the largest museum in the region."
