Gaziantep

Tuesday, 3 June 2014

▲ The Citadel

A city of more than a million population, Gaziantep has a hulking citadel in the centre of town, a busy bazaar, the best pistachio baklava in Turkey and the stunning new Gaziantep Zeugma Mosaic Museum. The mosaics are mainly from the Roman city of Belkıs-Zeugma, which was submerged with the construction of the Birecik Dam. The mosaics from the city’s villas were removed at the last minute, some of them as the water was actually lapping over them.

▲ The faces of Oceanus and Tethis feature in a maritime mosaic. The couple also appear in a large mosaic dedicated to Poseidon, the God of the Sea surrounded by a virtual aquarium of sea creatures.

▲ I particularly liked this mosaic of a near-naked Acratus casually pouring wine in an arc over his head into the waiting cup of Euphrosyne. Acratus is a companion of Dionysus, the God of Wine who appears in a state of considerable inebriation in another large mosaic. Euphrosyne is one of the Three Graces, the Goddess of Joy.