Efforts under way to construct a mosaic museum in Ankara

GAZIANTEP (A.A) - October 30, 2011 - Turkey's culture & tourism minister said on Sunday that efforts were under way to open a mosaic museum in the capital, Ankara. Ertugrul Gunay visited the mosaic museum in the southeastern province of Gaziantep, and said that the ministry was planning to construct a worldwide archeology museum in Ankara. "We are working on opening a museum in Ankara similar to Gaziantep Mosaic Museum," Gunay told reporters. World's number one mosaic museum was inaugurated in Turkey's southeastern province of Gaziantep on September 9, 2011.      Opened at a former factory in Gaziantep, the "Zeugma Mosaic Museum" cost about $50-55 million.      Gaziantep Municipality began constructing the museum in April 2008. Some 1,700 square metres of mosaic unearthed in the ancient city of Zeugma, is on display in the museum.      The biggest museum in the history of the Republic of Turkey also outpaced the Bardo Museum in Tunis, which was considered the world's biggest mosaic museum.      The three-storey museum has an exhibition area of 30,000 square metres.      The museum also includes the special room built for Mainad Mosaic, which has been etched into people's minds as the "Gypsy Girl".      The special room takes place in the first section on the second floor. It is shaped like a labyrinth. The lighting inside specifically emphasizes the melancholy gaze of the Gypsy Girl.