Erimtan Archaeology and Arts Museum

Erimtan Archaeology and Arts Museum is a cultural institution in which many valuable works from the Roman, Urartu, Hittite, and Byzantine ages within Yüksel Erimtan’s collection are displayed using innovative techniques, and which hosts many interdisciplinary and artistic events curated with a contemporary museology approach.

As of the first quarter of 2015, three old Ankara houses located in the Castle Square, one of Ankara’s oldest settlements, were transformed, while preserving their historical and architectural values, into the museum building to host this special archaeological collection. The museum, which contains a collection ranging from 3000 B.C. up until the Byzantine Period, features a narrative told through contemporary display techniques. With the aim of carrying the livelihood in the museum displays over to areas outside exhibition spaces, the museum boasts an additional exhibition space for temporary exhibitions, a multi-purpose hall to host events on arts, culture, and the sciences, a workshop that hosts educational programs for museum visitors of all ages, a museum shop that features original designs, a cafe where visitors can rest, and a library that will be accessible to researchers upon completion.

Nazan Gezer has been serving as the Museum Director since 2016.

You can reach the museum brochure here.

Museum Architecture

"The Erimtan Museum is composed of three historical houses located at the citadel of Ankara. While the exterior architecture represents the historical traces of these dwellings, the interior provides the unique experience of a comprehensive museum space.

The definitive line that separates the old from the new is emphasized with the use of materials characteristic of Ankara, and surfaces made of Ankara stone and exposed concrete serve as tools that further demonstrate the tension running through this line. The walls of the houses were interpreted in such a way as to reframe the museum and to accommodate the services and the necessary technical infrastructure.

The southern façade has been expanded to accommodate the museum support functions, including the entrance, the gift shop, an information desk, lockers and an elevator on the mezzanine floor. From here, it is possible to see the displays of selected objects on the catwalks, the space continuing behind the “red wall”, the permanent exhibition area below and the stairs connecting it to the temporary exhibition floor. The same thick wall runs down two more floors where it moves into the kitchen, a storage area, a cleaning room, and other service spaces. The display environments and the spolia are located in the western and eastern walls, while the library runs along the two floors that form the northern façade.

Areas such as the café, terrace, multi-purpose hall, library and the workshop, which support the museum’s programming and events, are designed with their own, independent entrances to provide the necessary autonomy required for their functions. The terrace, like the other spaces within the museum, is multifunctional and serves as an exhibition area, a space for evening events, and as an extension to the café area when needed. The terrace has been redefined in the architectural plan via the “museum road” that connects the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, the Rahmi M. Koç Museum, and Erimtan Archaeology and Arts Museum.

The museum building greets its visitors with a contemporary architectural approach that stays true to Ankara’s history and breathes a new life into the city’s artistic scene.

The curatorial projects related to the permanent collection of the Erimtan Archaeology and Arts Museum are led by Gül Pulhan and Adrian Saunders, who are assisted by Selma Ünal. The architects of the museum are Prof. Ayşen Savaş, Can Aker and Onur Yüncü. The exhibition hall was designed by Prof. Ayşen Savaş.

Museum Plans

Yüksel Erimtan

Yuksel Erimtan was born in 1928 in Istanbul and after graduating from Haydarpasa High School he had his higher education at Department of Civil Engineering in Istanbul University. He began his public service career at Karabuk Iron and Steel Plant in 1951 and continued at NATO Air Base construction in Diyarbakir and Akhisar and finally at Department of Dams at Directorate General for State Hydraulic Works.

He decided to continue his career at private sector in 1957 and established GAMA Corporate Group in 1959 and served as Chairman of the Executive Board and as Executive Director. He established MIR Company and completed the first big construction undertaking in Russia. He established EMT Company in the end of 1990 and acted as the Chairman of the Executive Board and as Executive Director for EMT J. S. Co.

Mr. Erimtan served as Honorary Chief Consul to Turkey of Uruguay between 1986 and 2009 and he established Cultural Heritage Collectors Association (Kültür Varlıkları Koleksiyonerleri Derneği) in 1996 in order to utilize the cultural and artistic potential of Turkey as much as possible, to promote protection of the historical artefacts and cultural heritage and to prevent them being smuggled. Mr. Erimtan is still holding the Chair of the Association.

Yüksel Erimtan also established Yuksel Erimtan Culture and Arts Foundation in 2009 in order to promote the introduction of the cultural heritage of Turkey both in the country and at abroad and at the same time to raise awareness for culture and arts. Erimtan Archaeology and Arts Museum was also established under Yuksel Erimtan Culture and Arts Foundation.

Mr. Erimtan is a talented pianist and bridge player and in addition he is the founder and member of various associations such as Devlet Tiyatroları Vakfı (Turkish State Theatres Foundation), ANAÇEV, ÇAGSAV, HASVAK, AKA.