Modernday Hotel, Ancient Site

The museum hotel Antakya, designed by Emre Arolat Architecture, floats above one of the 21st century’s most astounding archaeological finds.

- Redzman Rahmat

When the Asfuroglu family was preparing the site of its proposed five-star luxury hotel, they broke ground to an unexpected discovery.

Beneath the riverbed in Antakya, Turkey, they discovered the 2,300-year-old ruins of the ancient city of Antioch.

The location is found a few kilometres away from what is now modern Antakya, home to an important Christian pilgrimage site, the St. Pierre Church.

This discovery completely derailed the original plans for the site.

But instead of foregoing the initial plans of building a world-class hotel, the family decided to embrace the challenge of building said hotel around the archaeological site.

The result? A mixed-purpose architectural landmark that cleverly, and carefully, juxtaposes the modern amenities of a luxury hotel with the public offering of a state-owned, open-air archaeological park.

Today, The Museum Hotel proudly shares its premises with the Necmi AsfuroÄŸlu Archaeology Museum.

35,000 ancient artefacts (from 13 civilisations that date back to the third century BCE) co-exist alongside a modern, 200-room architectural wonder.

PRESERVING THE PAST

Turkish practice Emre Arolat Architecture (EAA) accepted the challenge of designing the luxury hotel that not just surrounds the archaeological site, but also protects it.

Together with the Asfuroglu family and a “protection committee” consisting of the Antakya Municipality, the Hatay Archaeology Museum and the Adana Conservation Council for Cultural and Natural Assets, the board began work on Turkey’s largest systemic archaeological excavation since the 1930s.