The ‘Gypsy Girl Mosaic,’ the most valuable piece in the Zeugma Mosaic Museum, which showcases artifacts from the ancient city of Zeugma in Gaziantep, is breaking visitor records.
The mosaic was discovered during excavations at the ancient city of Zeugma between 1998 and 1999, found on the floor of a villa.
The figure in the mosaic is commonly referred to as ‘Gypsy Girl’ (Turkish: Çingene Kızı) by the public due to its prominent hair, braids, and facial expression. However, experts indicate that the figure is actually a ‘Maenad,’ one of the followers of Dionysus.
The Zeugma Mosaic Museum, where the mosaic is displayed, attracted 355,000 visitors in the first nine months of the year.
The museum features important artifacts, including the “Mars statue,” mosaics found in villas along the Euphrates River, and fountains from the Roman period.
Özgür Çomak, the Director of Gaziantep Museum, stated, “The museum, which showcases very important mosaics related to Roman and Greek mythology, especially the Çingene Kızı, is highly valued in our country, and our visitors are coming in droves. Tourism is already on the rise in our country, and we are seeing its effects in Gaziantep, which makes us happy.”
He expressed that they are on track to break the visitor record, sharing the following information: “We will comfortably surpass the highest visitor number of 440,000 since the museum opened in 2022, as there is still a long way to go until the end of the year. We have already reached 355,000 visitors. We are especially expecting a high number of visitors during the week of the Republic Day on October 29.”
Özgür Çomak noted that they have been breaking visitor records consecutively this year, stating: “During the 9-day Ramadan Bayram holiday, we saw the impact of the rise in tourism, and we even broke the daily visitor record two days in a row since the museum opened, hosting nearly 6,300 visitors in one day. The same effect continued during the Kurban Bayram holiday. Although the number of visitors decreased a bit during the summer season, especially when beach tourism was intense, we hope to reach visitor numbers in the 500,000 range by the end of the year with the effects of the autumn season.”