Let's show something that describes traditional city jobs:

handicrafts 

There are at least 10 of these which are very popular but I will present:

Yemeni shoes 

Copper and tin working 

Mosaics

Yemeni shoes.

These are handmade shoes, made of natural leather. To make them Masters need a few years of schooling and practice. It’s a traditional handicraft which, though not very common anymore, is still very much appreciated. One of the departments at Gaziantep University has got a workshop which helps keep this handicraft alive.

Copper and tin workshop.

This is probably the most popular workshop in Gaziantep. On the streets, we can easily find men working all day to make their objects with good quality. There’s a long production process which requires a lot of skills and experience.

 

The history of mosaics goes back some 4,000 years or more.
Mosaics were one of the principle forms of expression in antiquity. They were a functional yet decorative feature of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean villas, temples, shops, bath houses, and eventually churches and mosques. The images inspired viewers, complemented architecture, and were considered prestigious assets by their owners.

        
Nowadays, because of the rich history that the Gaziantep region has, there are projects 
which support local mosaic workshops and this handicraft seems to be stable.
One of the most popular topics is, of course, Gypsy Girl from Zeugma city. I suppose 
every workshop has at least one copy of it in its shop.

 

Greetings!
Monika

With a dedication to Laura :):):)

Ramadan (Turkish: Ramazan) has started. This year it started on the 20^th of July.

Some people are fasting, but all of them are probably having a festive Iftar (a fast-breaking meal around 8p.m.)

So you can imagine what kind of meals Gaziantep residents might have, I will add  something here about Gaziantep’s cuisine.

The geographical location of the city made it a historical melting pot. The different cultures and novelties of two great empires strongly effected Turkish culinary culture. The ancient culinary tradition is continued nowadays.

Some dishes, like lamb liver kebabs, fresh cheese, helva and stuffed patlıcan (eggplant) have maintained constant names and recipes through the ages.

Generally, Antep’s cuisine can be described as classical, known nationally and inter-nationally.

Influences on flavor: sour flavors and fresh garlic, are found in most dishes.

There are a few kinds of each of these and, depending on the dish, chefs use different spices.

For example, in yogurt dishes, saffron and peppermint; in some other dishes and soups, tarhın; in rice pudding, cinnamon. 

There are seven sources of of sour flavor which are used according to the dishes: lemon, lemon salt, unripe grape, boiled grape juice, sumac, sumac sour and pomegranate sour.

 To make this description more vivid, I will add photos of the meals that I have tried.

Afiyet olsun!

Monika

Museums:

The Castle Museum is located right in the center of the city and it’s a nice museum filled with interesting information about the Turkish war of independence and the people that fought in it. It is quite good to visit and worth taking the time to read the information, which is also in English.



The Gaziantep Glass museum

In my opinion not very interesting and the price is 4 liras in comparison with most museums where it’s only one lira. It consists of a couple of rooms with historic artifacts and the rest are actually shops. There is also a little restaurant inside, so you get the feeling it’s not a museum at all, but just a shop where you pay entrance… I don’t recommend visiting it.


The kitchen museum

A very nice idea and worth visiting, in my opinion not for the things inside it but for the information provided and the movie offered about preparing traditional Gaziantep food and about the founder of the museum, who had a very hard life in his childhood but made this museum as a tribute to this city, its food and for his mother. I recommend going to visit it.


Beyaz Han City museum

A very nice museum that can be visited every day and that tells the story of the city, its history, its economy, about the industry here, the architecture, the traditional crafts practiced here and any other relevant information one might want to know about the city. There is an English translation, and a lot of information, meaning you will spend at least one hour visiting it. The information is very complete and accompanied by movies and artifacts.


The Mosaic museum

Today in the Zeugma Mosaics Museum 500 meter square-wide mosaics, 35 mosaic panels as well as the famous 1, 50 cm-long bronze Mars and Aphrodite statutes are in display. The museum is proudly the second biggest mosaic museum of the world. Its artifacts come from the ancient Roman city of Zeugma.

The museum, which covers a 30,000 square-meter closed place, includes conference halls and other social facilities. The museum’s construction started in April 2008, and it opened to the public early in 2011.

Take care / have fun

Dan