Last October, 19 refugees in Berlin were recruited and trained as museum guides to provide native-language tours for fellow refugees, with the aim of helping newly arrived people foster connections between Germany’s cultural heritage and their own. The project is called Multaqa, an Arabic word meaning “meeting point”.

The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality has pushed the button on the restoration of Riva Castle, situated on Istanbul’s Black Sea coast. A tender will be initiated on March 17 for the restoration and environmental organization of the castle.The construction site delivery will take place within five days after the contract is signed and the restoration work will be completed in 400 days. 

The ancient city of Magnesia, where excavations have been ongoing for 30 years, remains underwater after rainfall over the weekend submerged parts of the excavated site. Located in the western province of Aydın’s Germencik district, the 3rd century B.C. ancient city has turned into a lake with due to heavy rainfall and groundwater in the surrounding area. 

Some 39 artifacts were repatriated to Turkey in 2015, the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry has announced.Twenty-seven smuggled artifacts were returned from the United States while 10 came back from Switzerland last year, according to the ministry.  Also among them were one piece from Austria and one from Germany. 

Turkey spent $223 million on artwork from abroad between 2011 and 2015, according to data provided by the Turkish Statistics Institute. England was the first country for art imports, followed by the US, France and Germany

The world’s tourism map is being redrawn at lightning speed as holidaymakers switch preferences prompted by terror attacks, epidemics and migrant crises. Jihadist attacks on tourists in Tunisia last year and the October 31 crash of a Russian plane which took off from its Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh have devastated the tourism sectors in both countries.

The only structure from the Byzantine era in Ankara, the Saint Clement Church, is about to disappear amid the city’s continuing urban sprawl. The structure, which is among office buildings in the Altındağ district, can be visited only with the permission of the owners of the offices and by walking down the fire escape stairs. 

A stone on the wall of a historical mosque in the eastern province of Bitlis has been removed and stolen by treasure hunters, one of whom has since been caught by police.The 500-year-old Tuğrul Bey Mosque, built by Zal Pasha as part of the Adilcevaz Castle in the 16th century, was targeted by treasure hunters, who thought there was gold in a marked a stone in the front façade of the mosque wall.

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.