Turkish museums get European awards

Welcoming its visitors at the entrance of the 5,000-year-old Troy Ruins in the northwestern province of Çanakkale, the Troy Museum has been honored with the 2020 European Museum of the Year Special Award given by the European Museum Forum (EMF) under the auspices of the Council of Europe.

The award is given to a museum that "contributes most directly to attracting audiences and satisfying its visitors with a unique atmosphere, imaginative interpretation and presentation." Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the award ceremony was not held last year, and the winners of 2020 and 2021 were announced online on YouTube.

While the Troy Museum received the award for 2020, the Odunpazarı Modern Museum (OMM) in the central Anatolian province of Eskişehir was deemed worthy of the European Museum of the Year Special Award for 2021.

Troy was immortalized by the ancient Greek poet Homer in his epic "The Iliad," telling the story of the last year of the decade-long Trojan War.

Stating that the epic is the most significant feature that makes the Troy Museum different from the others, Museum Director Rıdvan Gölcük said that in 2019, 800,000 people visited the ruins and the museum, while during the pandemic period, the number of virtual visitors reached 1.5 million in a year.

Built at the entrance of the Troy Ruins, which sheds light on a history of 5,000 years in Çanakkale, the Troy Museum was opened on March 18, 2019.

In the museum, which has a closed area of 12,750 square meters, 2,000 artworks from the Troy Ruins and other ancient cities are on display, while there are 41,000 artworks in the museum collection. With the temporary exhibitions to be opened this summer, visitors will have the opportunity to see most of the works in the Troy...