Van Museum

The city of Van, one of the oldest cities in the world, is located in the Eastern Anatolia Region of our country, in the Van Lake basin. Van, whose history dates back to the Paleolithic Period, has been an important settlement center throughout history due to its location on the Silk Road. It was the capital of the Urartian Civilization and continued to maintain its importance during the Seljuk and Ottoman Periods. The idea of establishing a museum was put forward in 1932 for the first time with the need to preserve the movable cultural assets obtained in different ways from the areas within the borders of Van, which has hosted many civilizations. It started to serve as the Museum Officer in 1945 and as the Museum Directorate in 1972. A distinguished collection of artifacts from the province of Van and its surroundings are exhibited in our exhibition halls prepared with a contemporary museology approach in our new museum building. The sections where artifacts from the Paleolithic, Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Urartian, Persian, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, Seljuk, Turkish-Islamic, and Ottoman Periods are exhibited in chronological order are taking our visitors on a unique historical journey. The museum complex, which covers a closed area of approximately 10.000 square meters, has a cafeteria, conference hall, classrooms, specialized library, children's playgrounds, souvenir stand, and temporary exhibition halls, where visitors can have special experience.