Gaziantep

After our culture rich stop in Sanliurfa we headed west for even more culture in Gaziantep. On the way we stopped at a crossing of the Euphrates River.

Of course the river is famous and that makes two after we crossed the Tigris earlier in the trip.

After a quick drive we arrived in Gaziantep to pay a visit to the Zeugma Mosaic Museum. This is the largest collection of ancient mosaics in tbe world with over 18,000 square feet of mosaics.

So now you’re going to see a few samples of what we saw today. It was arresting. If you enjoy mosaics this is the place to visit.

The most famous mosaic here is called “The Gypsy Girl”.

So lifelike! When you look closer at the eyes you see the individual mosaic tiles but are still in awe of the work. Just look at the shading!

There are traces of settlement going back to the 4th millennium BC in and around Gaziantep. These mosaics are from an area called Zeugma which is why the museum carries that name.

Here are some of our favorite mosaics that we saw.

There’s this one.

The detail really is incredible.

Looks like a carpet, doesn’t it? Same with this one.

And this one too.

Just one more.

Sorry, one more.

Overall an incredible collection that demands to be seen by mosaic lovers. We have one more mosaic museum to visit on this trip, and that will be tomorrow.