Located on the ancient Silk Road, the eastern Turkish province of Erzincan will soon share hundreds of artifacts spanning thousands of years and several civilizations with visitors in a new museum set to open in a few weeks.
Around 350 works from the Paleolithic era, the Bronze Age, as well as the Urartu, Persian, Eastern Roman, Seljuk and Ottoman periods, will be on display in the facility. Constructed on an area of 2,030 square meters, the museum is scheduled to open in mid-May and will offer audio descriptions to visually impaired visitors as part of its efforts to enhance accessibility.
For those unable to visit the exhibits in person, a Virtual Museum system has also been created by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
A special exhibition area has also been created, where the traces and visuals of important cultural assets damaged by the 7.9 magnitude earthquake that took place in Erzincan on Dec. 27, 1939, and took nearly 33,000 lives and injured thousands, will be placed in the Museum Garden.
Bülent Gönültaş, head of the Museum's Department of the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the artifacts from the Bronze Age to the present day, as well as the works reflecting many periods from coppersmiths to the traditional clothes of the region, will be exhibited in the museum.
Stating that the museum was designed in accordance with the nature of Erzincan and the local architecture, Gönültaş said: "I participated in scientific excavations in Altıntepe as a student here 20 years ago. The artifacts we found in the excavation at that time are in this museum too. It is a special pleasure for us that we are exhibiting it. Hopefully, we will enrich the museum with further excavations."
Provincial Culture and Tourism Director Arda Heb stated: "Cultural heritage is a treasure that tells the members of a society about their common past and strengthens the sense of solidarity and unity among them. Transferring the experiences and traditions that people have accumulated throughout history to the field of knowledge ensures the correct establishment of the future. Historical and cultural heritage should be protected not only because of the values it has, but also because it offers young people new learning and development opportunities, fosters creativity and discovery, adds depth to our view of the world and life, and we all have a lot to learn from our past."
After the completion of the Erzincan Museum, the artifacts preserved by the Provincial Culture and Tourism Directorate Museum Directorate and some artifacts in the Ankara Anatolian Civilizations Museum and Erzurum Museum will also be brought to Erzincan.
