Turkey - The Cradle of Civilization

The theme of the Turkish Pavilion was inspired by one of the first known settlements in the world, Çatalhöyük, which is currently located in the centre of Anatolia.

The exterior design of the pavilion has been realized in consideration with the wall frescos found at a house in Çatalhöyük which is the one of the earliest known center of population in the whole world. The fresco on the wall represents the volcanic mountain, Hasandağ, and houses around it. The external design of the Pavilion has transformed the existing expo-container type building, into a contemporary architectural design. The 3-D images are mainly the depiction of hunting scenes, red images of the now extinct wild cattle and stags, and eagles swooping down on abstract figures once carved out of the walls of Çatalhöyük. The two colours on the exterior cladding, red and beige are borrowed from the original colours of those wall paintings. The colour red which signifies good luck in Chinese culture is interpreted in dialogue with the colours of the Turkish national flag, red and white.

In the Neolitich Age, Çatalhöyük was composed of domestic buildings that were 4500 years older than the Egyptian pyramids and it gives clues on how to build "better cities" to eventually enjoy better life. Çatalhöyük was outstanding not only because of the artistic expressions and its claim of seniority as the world’s oldest permanent settlement, but also for the skills developed by its inhabitants. At its peak, there were almost 10,000 people who developed new techniques in agriculture, domestication of animals and the social life they formed together for more than 1800 years, with evidence of them trading their goods such as seashells and flint.While the house types were simple structures without any distinctive features, they manifested the traces of a relatively equal status in social life. Recent findings revealed no social distinction based on gender, with both men and women receiving equivalent nutrition and apparently, having relatively equal social status in life and death.

Watch the video and check the cultural activites which will mainly take place on Europe square.