This new report from UNESCO and the consulting group EY (formerly Ernst & Young) identifies the extent and scope of the creative economy worldwide. The idea behind this report is that the economic weight of cultural and creative industries (CCI) in mature and emerging economies is partially described, misunderstood and undervalued. This study encompasses a wide range of creative activities combining the creation, production and distribution of cultural content. Unlike other studies, we have included all activities related to the performing arts (including dance, opera, ballet and live music) and visual arts (museums, visual arts creation, art market and design activities). In addition, EY’s study is the first to separately assess the economic value of each CCI individually, and at a global level.

Underwater excavations off the western province of Muğla’s Marmaris district have unearthed a shipwreck in the Hisarönü Gulf dating back up to 4,000 years, one of the oldest shipwrecks ever found in Turkish waters. The work is part of a project initiated in 2007 to reveal Turkey’s underwater heritage, supported by the Development Agency.
 

A number of architectural structures in the 3,000-year-old ancient site of Kayaköy in the western province of Muğla are being threatened by local flora, as trees and plant life have damaged the walls of the old buildings. Eight kilometers away from the province’s Fethiye district, Kayaköy, or Karmylassos as it was known in the ancient era, is home to a number of old structures.

A six-gate rock church that is home to wall paintings featuring Christian icons has been unearthed in the southern province of Burdur’s Bucak district. The rock church in the ancient city of Kremna was discovered by Mehmet Akif Ersoy University (MAKU) Archaeology Department academic Hüseyin Metin and his team during excavations conducted in a mountainous area in the Avdancık village in Bucak district. 

Zengibar Castle, located among the remains of ancient Isaura in the Central Anatolian province of Konya,which is considered the Ephesus of the region, will soon open to tourism. The ancient city of Isaura, estimated to have been built in the Byzantine era some 2,000 years ago, is located 16 kilometers away from the Konya city center on an 1860-meter-high hill.

Winter tourism needs to be diversified in Cappadocia, which is famous for fairy chimneys, rock-carved boutique hotels, underground cities and natural rock formations, according to local tourism representatives. “We are seeking new alternatives to draw more tourists in winter,” Göreme Tourism Development Cooperative Chairman Mustafa Durmaz said, adding that organizing tours to the Erciyes Ski center, which is close to Cappadocia in Kayseri, was among the alternatives.

Digital models of artifacts unearthed during excavations in the ancient city of Kibyra are being created with the use of laser technology, within the scope of a project initiated by the Mehmet Akif Ersoy University (MAKU) in the southern province of Burdur. MAKU Technical Sciences Vocational School Director Serkan Öktem said the university’s goal was to turn the artifacts into digital models so people would be able to “visit” them on the Internet. 

Result of call for tenders: EAC/03/2015

Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia Museum remained Turkey’s most visited tourist attraction last year, according to data released by the Culture and Tourism Ministry. In 2015, 3.47 million people visited the Hagia Sophia, originally built as a 6th century Christian basilica that was converted to an imperial mosque in the 15th century before becoming a museum. It was also the most visited site in Turkey in 2014.

The oldest Christian monastery in Iraq has been reduced to a field of rubble by jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).St. Elijah’s Monastery stood as a place of worship for 1,400 years, including most recently for U.S. troops. In earlier millennia, generations of monks tucked candles in the niches, prayed in the chapel, worshipped at the altar.