Over 12M visitors flocked to Turkey's online museums

By Yesim Kalyoncuoglu

ANKARA (AA) - Over 12 million people visited Turkey's 32 museums and archaeological sites in the first 10 months of 2020 through the government’s digital platform​​​​​​​, tourism officials announced on Friday.

Turkey’s Culture and Tourism Ministry unveiled a digital portal of museums and historical sites on March 25, 2020, after the COVID-19 outbreak, which hit the tourism industry hard.

The museums and archaeological sites, which host millions of rare works of culture and art, have been made accessible to visitors through a virtual environment at sanalmuze.gov.tr, according to the officials.

Virtually the most visited is the Gobeklitepe Archeological Site Museum, with around 3.5 million visitors so far.

Gobeklitepe has been on UNESCO’s World Heritage Tentative List since 2011. It was discovered in 1963 when researchers from Istanbul and Chicago universities were working at the site.

On the portal, which makes one feel like walking on the spot, visitors can launch their virtual tour from any section of the museum.

While history students and art lovers have the opportunity to see exhibitions by zooming in 3D format, virtual travelers can also access information on the history of the objects and locations.

Those interested can access a myriad of museums, palaces, mosques, churches, monasteries, and fortresses listed under Turkey’s Culture and Tourism Ministry at ktb.gov.tr.

*Writing by Ahmet Gencturk