Mersin Halkevi is a building in Mersin

Mersin

-Mersin today:Today, Mersin is a large city spreading out along the coast, with Turkey's second tallest skyscraper , huge hotels, an opera house, expensive real estate near the sea or up in the hills, and many other modern urban...

, Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 originally built within the scope of the project Halkevleri

Halkevleri

Halkevleri is a name of a former Turkish state sponsored project, between 1932-1951.- Background :Turkish Republic was proclaimed in 1923 after a serial of wars involving the Ottoman Empire. The wars were very costly. The human loss was great, especially among the intellectuals. Also, the most...

, but currently used as a cultural center and opera house.

History

Halkevleri was an important enlightenment project in the early years of Turkish republic. Mersin branch of Halkevleri was opened in 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. The architect was Ertuğrul Menteş with the consultants Arif Hikmet Koyunoğlu, Dr. Mukbil Gökdoğan and Raşit Tuğrul. The building was constructed between February 1944 and November 1946. Service began on 29 October 1946, the 23rd anniversary of the decleration of the republic. Two months later, Mersin residents were able to watch Giacomo Puccini

Giacomo Puccini

Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...

's Madame Butterfly, put on stage by the quest artists from Ankara Opera. The building with a floor area of 4800 m² (5,740.8 sq yd) 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 a movie hall and the rest was used as a library and vocational school for girls. On 4 January 1977 the building was handed over to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism

Ministry of Culture and Tourism (Turkey)

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism is a government ministry office of the Republic of Turkey, responsible for culture and tourism affairs in Turkey. As of 2008, it is headed by Ertuğrul Günay.- External links :***...

. Although officially called cultural center the popular name of the building is still Halkevi.

Present usage

The main hall is used by Mersin Opera. Most of the performances during Mersin International Music Festival are also held in the main hall. The hall sometimes is reserved for conferences and the like. Mersin Museum

Mersin Museum

Mersin Museum is the main museum of Mersin, Turkey. It is operated by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.- History :Mersin Province is full of ancient sites. Yumuktepe and Soli in Mersin city and Gözlükule in Tarsus are among these. But prior to the foundation Mersin Museum, the findings were...

 is located the east side of the building . The building also hosts various officies and classrooms of the ministry of culture .

50 major buildings

Turkish chamber of Civil engineers lists Mersin Halkevi as one of the fifty civil engineering feats in Turkey

Fifty civil engineering feats in Turkey

Fifty civil engineering feats in Turkey or more formally 50 works in 50 years is the name of a list published by the Chamber of Civil Engineers in Turkey about 50 prestigious projects of the civil engineering in Turkey. The list has five subsections about regional development, general purpose...

a list of remarkable engineering projects realized after the decleration of Turkish republic.