Taşucu Amphora Müzesi

Arslan Eyce donated the amphora collection to the Taşucu Education and Wildlife Protection Foundation in 1997, and the museum, opened in a historic arched building dating from the 1800s, was approved by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 1997 as Taşucu Amphora Museum. In the museum, which has the distinction of being the first and only amphora museum in Turkey, commercial amphorae collected after getting caught in the nets of fishermen off Taşucu, Mersin and Antalya are exhibited. Among the works in the collection, the largest group consists of locally produced amphorae. The works exhibited within the museum shed light on the region’s lively commercial relations in the Ancient period. The many different types of amphorae recovered also prove that the region had commercial relations with important centers of the ancient world.

The museum also includes commercial amphorae produced between the 7th century B.C. and the 18th century A.D. Among the works on display, the earliest dated works consist of the Syrian-Palestinian and Cyprus groups belonging to the 7th century B.C. Since these regions are already geographically quite close, it should not be surprising that there was a strong commercial relationship with them from the earliest period onward. Among the works from the early period, commercial amphorae produced in the Aegean islands (Thasos, Mende, Lesbos, Samos and Khios) can be counted. Knidos (Datça), Rhodes, Kos and Corinth amphorae in mainland Greece, famed as the most important wine exporters of the Hellenistic Period (330-30 B.C.), constitute one of the most important groups. The majority of the amphorae in Taşucu Amphora Museum consist of commercial amphorae from the Roman Period (30 B.C. – 395 A.D.). Among the works from this period are commercial amphorae produced in centers in the Aegean (Samos, Ephesos, Kos), the regions of Cilicia and Pamphylia in Anatolia, Sinop in the Black Sea region, Egypt and Tunisia in North Africa, Syria, Beirut and Palestine in the Levant region, and Portugal, Spain and Southern Italy in Europe. Among the commercial amphorae from the Byzantine period (395-1453 A.D.) are commercial amphorae produced in Ganos (Tekirdağ) in the Marmara region and Tarsus in the Cilicia region. Since its opening in 1997, Taşucu Amphora Museum has made significant contributions to the tourism and culture of Silifke and Taşucu and, attracting great interest in the national press and television channels, has been an important factor in the recognition of Silifke and Taşucu.

Source: Mersin Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism archive.

Places to Visit in Mersin Address: Cumhuriyet Alanı Vakıf Han No:9 Taşucu-Silifke-Mersin