Mardin Museum

Located on the ancient town square, the Mardin Museum is composed of two buildings-an administrative unit ant the museum building which is the  former "Assyrian Catholic Patriarchate" built in 1895 by the orders of Ignatios Behnam Bannş, the Patriarch oj Antakya. East of the building is situated the Church of the Virhin Mary. Purchased from the Assyrian Catholic Foundation and restores by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the building was reopened to public use in 2000 as the "Mardin Museum." It features all of the characteristics of traditional Mardin houses with a southward u- shaped and three- storey plan.

Stone and ceramic artefacts of Mesopotamian civilisations, dating from the Assyrian, Byzantine, Artuqid and Ottoman Periods are displayed in an open exhibition in the yard on the ground floor of the museum. A gift shop, a cafeteria, educational classrooms and the ticket office are also situated on this floor. Visitors can participate to a wide range of workshops held in classrooms, including coin minting, natural dying and printing, paper marbling, ceramics and shadow play. The Arkeopark, where educational classes and activities for children are held, as well as an amphitheatre for 500 persons are found in the front yar. 

The first floor of the museum houses an open exhibition area displaying Roman mosaics and stone artefacts, a 3D motive theatre and seminar hall, exhibit storage spaces and the Archaeological Excavations Exhibitition Room featuring pieces recovered in  archaeological excavations carried out in the area. The second floor comprises five exhibition halls organized according to the themes of Belief, Trade and Prosuction, Life, Food Defence and Ornamentation. A hall allotted to artefact forgery and smuggling is also found on this floor. 

The administrative unit is situated northwest of the museum. Facing south with a yard, the two-storey and L- shaped building has the characteristics of a traditional "Mardin house" of the 19th century. It was restored by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and opened to public use in 2012 after being connected to the museums building with a suspension bridge. The Museum Administrative Unit comprises a s special library, ant art gallery, a conference hall, an archive room, specialist rooms, a photographic laboratory, a prayer poom and management units.