Mersin Halkevi is a building in

Mersin Mersin () is a large city and port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of Mediterranean Region, Turkey, southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of the Mersin Province (formerly İçel). It is made up of four district governorates ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

originally built within the scope of the project Halkevleri, but currently used as a cultural center and

opera house An opera house is a theater building used for performances of opera. Like many theaters, it usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, backstage facilities for costumes and building sets, as well as offices for the institut ...

History

Halkevleri was an important enlightenment project in the early years of Turkish Republic. Mersin branch of Halkevleri was opened on 24 February 1933. The building of Halkevi was planned to meet the demands of the project as a theatre, a concert hall, classrooms, workshops etc. It was designed by architect Ertuğrul Menteşe with the consultants

Arif Hikmet Koyunoğlu Arif Hikmet Koyunoğlu (1888 - 1982 in Selanik, Ottoman Empire) was a Turkish people, Turkish architect best known for his work on the State Art and Sculpture Museum in Ankara, Turkey. He died at the age of 94. Image gallery Ankara asv2021-10 i ...

, Dr. Mukbil Gökdoğan and Raşit Tuğrul. The building was constructed between February 1944 and November 1946. It went into service on 29 October 1946, the 23rd anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic. Two months later, Mersin residents were able to watch

Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for List of compositions by Giacomo Puccini#Operas, his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he ...

Madame Butterfly ''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is based on the short story " Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Lut ...

, put on stage by the guest artists from Ankara Opera. The building with a floor area of was the biggest building of the Halkevleri Project. The total expenditure was around 1.12 million Turkish liras. After the Halkevleri Project was terminated by the government on 8 August 1951, a western wing of the building was used as movie theatre and the rest was used as a library and vocational school for girls. The building temporarily, housed Mersin Archaeological Museum before the museum building was constructed. On 4 January 1977, the building was handed over to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Although officially called cultural center () the popular name of the building is still Halkevi.

Present usage

The main hall is used by Mersin Opera and ballet. Most of the performances during Mersin International Music Festival are also held in the main hall. The hall sometimes is used for conferences and the like. Mersin Museum is located the east side of the building. The building also hosts various offices and classrooms of the Ministry of Culture.

Turkey's top 50 civil engineering projects

Turkish Chamber of Civil Engineers lists Mersin Halkevi Building as one of the fifty civil engineering feats in Turkey, a list of remarkable engineering projects realized in the first 50 years of the chamber.The list

References

{{authority control Culture in Mersin Opera houses in Turkey Theatres completed in 1946 Concert halls in Turkey Buildings and structures in Mersin Tourist attractions in Mersin Music venues completed in 1946 Second Turkish national architecture