Zeugma Mosaic Museum
The Zeugma Mosaic Museum in Gaziantep, Turkey, is the largest mosaic museum in the world, housing 2,448 square metres of ancient Roman mosaics rescued from the submerged ruins of the Hellenistic and Roman city of Zeugma on the Euphrates River. Opened on 9 September 2011, the 30,000-square-metre facility surpassed the Bardo National Museum in Tunis as the world’s record holder for mosaic floor area on display. Its centrepiece is the “Gypsy Girl” (Çingene Kız), a hauntingly preserved portrait mosaic from the 2nd century AD that has become one of the most recognised images of ancient Roman art in the Near East.
At a glance
- Type
- Archaeological and mosaic museum
- Period
- Collections from the 1st century BC – 3rd century AD (Hellenistic–Roman Zeugma); museum opened 2011
- Style
- Contemporary museum architecture housing in-situ and lifted mosaic floors
- Location
- Gaziantep, southeastern Turkey
- Coordinates
- 37.0756° N, 37.3856° E
Overview
Zeugma Mosaic Museum contains 1,700 square metres of mosaics and is the biggest mosaic museum in the world. It opened to the public on 9 September 2011, and the 30,000 sq m museum features 2,448 sq m of mosaic, replacing the Bardo National Museum in Tunis as the world’s largest mosaic museum. The collection was assembled following urgent rescue excavations conducted in advance of the Birecik Dam flooding, which permanently submerged the lower city of ancient Zeugma from 2000 onward.
History
Zeugma was founded as a Hellenistic settlement by Seleucus I Nicator around 300 BC and became a prosperous Roman provincial city guarding a key Euphrates crossing, home to a legionary garrison and a wealthy merchant class whose villas were decorated with exceptional mosaic floors. The Birecik hydroelectric dam project, completed in 2000, threatened to flood a large portion of the ancient city, triggering an international archaeological rescue operation that recovered thousands of mosaic fragments and complete floor panels. The Zeugma Mosaic Museum was built to provide a permanent, climate-controlled home for these rescued works and opened more than a decade after the flooding.
What you see
The museum presents mosaic floors in their original arrangement wherever possible, allowing visitors to understand the spatial relationships between panels within the rooms of Roman villas. Highlight works include the iconic “Gypsy Girl” portrait, the “Poseidon and Amphitrite” composition, and the multi-panel “Achilles” cycle. Bronze statues, fresco fragments, coins, glass vessels, and other archaeological finds complement the mosaic galleries. The building itself is designed with low ambient light and controlled humidity to preserve the ancient pigments, lending the galleries a contemplative atmosphere.
Cultural significance
The Zeugma collection ranks among the finest bodies of Roman provincial mosaic art in existence, offering irreplaceable evidence of luxury domestic culture at a major Euphrates crossing point. The museum has brought international scholarly and tourist attention to Gaziantep, an industrial city in southeastern Turkey not previously prominent on the cultural tourism circuit. The rescue operation that produced the collection has been studied as a model — and a cautionary tale — for heritage management in the face of major infrastructure projects.
Practical information
Address: Mithatpaşa Bulvarı No:3, 27090 Gaziantep, Turkey. The museum is open Tuesday–Sunday; hours and admission fees — check the official website or the Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality cultural portal for current information. Allow 2–3 hours for a thorough visit.
Getting there
Gaziantep is served by Oğuzeli International Airport (GZT), with direct flights from Istanbul, Ankara, and several European cities. The museum is located in the city centre, approximately 20 minutes by taxi from the airport. Intercity buses connect Gaziantep with Ankara (approximately 10 hours), Istanbul (approximately 14 hours), and regional cities including Adıyaman and Şanlıurfa. Local taxis and municipal buses serve the museum from central Gaziantep.