Zeugma Mosaic Museum

The Zeugma Mosaic Museum stands on Hacı Sani Konukoğlu Boulevard in the Mithatpaşa neighbourhood of Gaziantep's Şehitkamil district, and opened to the public on 9 September 2011. On its inauguration it was celebrated as the largest mosaic museum in the world.

History

Within a roughly 30,000-square-metre complex it displays more than 1,700 square metres of mosaics, taking the title from the Bardo Museum in Tunis. Although Hatay Archaeology Museum claimed the record about three years later, Zeugma remains one of the most magnificent mosaic collections on earth.

The Ancient City of Zeugma

Almost every work here was rescued from the ancient city of Zeugma on the banks of the Euphrates near Nizip. Founded as Seleucia by Seleucus I Nicator and later renamed Zeugma, Greek for 'bridge' or 'crossing', the city was a strategic Roman garrison and trading hub that hosted the Legio IV Scythica. In the late 1990s, before the rising waters of the Birecik Dam drowned much of the site, salvage excavations brought to light the extraordinary floor mosaics of its riverside villas. These panels were lifted, transported to Gaziantep and conserved within this purpose-built museum.

The Gypsy Girl and Mythological Mosaics

The jewel of the collection is the 'Gypsy Girl' mosaic, shown in its own darkened room. With her tousled hair, high cheekbones and a hypnotic gaze that seems to follow the viewer, she has become one of Turkey's best-known archaeological icons; missing fragments smuggled abroad decades earlier were repatriated from the United States in 2018 and reunited with the panel. The galleries also present mosaics depicting Achilles, Dionysos, Eros and Psyche, Oceanus and Tethys, and Poseidon, alongside a bronze statue of Mars, colonnaded halls and reconstructed villa wall paintings.

Visiting & Access

Agencies make Zeugma the indispensable opening stop of GAP cultural tours and the Gaziantep city tour because it concentrates the summit of Roman art in one enclosed, air-conditioned and accessible venue, with lifts, ramps and wheelchair access. The average visit lasts 90 to 120 minutes. The museum came through the February 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes undamaged and reopened in April 2023.

Guided itineraries usually schedule it for 09:30-11:00 before the crowds build, then continue to the historic core (Gaziantep Castle, the Panorama Museum, the Coppersmiths' Bazaar and Zincirli Bedesten). The strongest photo spots are the Gypsy Girl room, the elevated mosaic terraces and the villa reconstructions. Tour coaches can pull up to the large boulevard car park, and the 100th Year Atatürk Culture Park lies immediately adjacent. Spring and autumn are the most comfortable seasons; summer months and religious and public holidays are the peak.