The ancient city of Hierapolis, where lighting works continue, is preparing to host more tourists at night.
Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy announced that they will start night museums in the ruins, including the ancient city of Hierapolis, soon.
Speaking at an event where Turkish tourism’s 2023 figures and the expectations for 2024 were announced, Ersoy stated that Türkiye broke the tourism record in 2023 and he emphasized the importance of night museums to sustainable tourism.
With the night museum project, the ancient city of Hierapolis and Pamukkale Travertines, where work continues, will host guests until midnight.
Ersoy stated that it is necessary to take tourists out of the hotel in historical places close to tourism centers, adding that tourists should be hosted for 12 months.
Stating that they will start night museum activities as soon as possible, Ersoy said, “We need to spread it to all 81 provinces of Türkiye. Our most important weapon here is our archaeology.We specifically initiated a study, which still continue with the new ones in the last two years. We have completed the lighting of the ancient city of Ephesus. Now, we are working for the ancient city of Hierapolis. Especially in the coastal areas, tourists cannot leave the hotel because the temperature is very high during the summer months. They want to go out at night, if possible, after sunset. We will distribute the share of tourism revenues to cities.”
Pamukkale and Hierapolis, which hosted 1,990,786 people in 2022, hosted 2,195,454 people in 2023.
In December 2023 alone, 72,634 people visited the white heaven and Hierapolis. The number of guests visiting Pamukkale Travertines and Hierapolis, which are on the UNESCO World Heritage List, is expected to increase even more in 2024.
Source: hurriyetdailynews