Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy: Çatalhöyük and Göbeklitepe are Key Ancient Settlements
New Çatalhöyük Promotion and Welcome Center Opens in Konya
A new attraction has opened in Konya, Turkey, with the inauguration of the Çatalhöyük Promotion and Welcome Center. The center, located on an area of 28 thousand 500 square meters on land belonging to Konya Metropolitan Municipality, offers an enriching experience for visitors.
The center features a closed exhibition area of 4,500 square meters where visitors can learn about Çatalhöyük and its surroundings, excavation sites, the period’s housing, and themes of life and death. What’s more, the center’s unique wooden architecture, apart from its roof, has caught the attention of many.
Providing more than just an exhibition space, the center also includes working offices, a souvenir sales area, a multi-purpose hall, an observation tower, cafeteria areas, and a parking area with a capacity of 151 vehicles.
Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, emphasized that the center serves as a place where visitors can satisfy their curiosity about history and archaeology while not neglecting their social needs. He described it as a place where visitors would want to return.
The opening ceremony was attended by a number of dignitaries including Konya Governor Vahdettin Özkan, AK Party Konya MPs Mehmet Baykan and Selman Özboyacı, Konya Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Uğur İbrahim Altay, Provincial Culture and Tourism Director Abdüssettar Yarar, Head of the Excavation Committee and Anadolu University Faculty Member Assoc. Dr. Ali Umut Türkcan.
After the speeches, the center was officially opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, followed by Ersoy visiting the center and receiving more information.
The Çatalhöyük Promotion and Welcome Center is set to become a must-visit destination for history and archaeology enthusiasts, as well as for those who appreciate unique and sustainable architecture.
