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Erzurum's Ata Ice Museum, which offers visitors a break from the summer heat at Ataturk University, has welcomed more than 300,000 guests since it was established.
Opened in 2020 within Ataturk University's Faculty of Fine Arts with support from the Northeastern Anatolia Development Agency (KUDAKA), the museum continues to welcome visitors year-round.
The museum, which is especially popular in summer among those seeking relief from the heat, hosts various exhibitions featuring ice sculptures created as part of graduate and doctoral student projects.
Visitors wishing to tour the museum, where ice molds are illuminated in a range of colors using lighting systems and the temperature drops to as low as 5 degrees Celsius below zero (23 degrees Fahrenheit), are required to wear winter outdoor clothing.
Aydin Dogan, a Faculty of Fine Arts sculpture department student working at the museum, said that visitors enjoy the atmosphere. Dogan noted that the museum is important for the city, explaining that students make ice sculptures on-site and that their faculty was the first in Türkiye to open an ice museum.
"The temperature is usually minus 5 degrees, but we turn off the fans while working so we don't get cold," Dogan said.
Dogan added that work at the museum becomes more intensive during the academic term. He said visitors are often surprised when they see the sculptures, pointing to pieces the students have made out of ice, including an eagle head, a rearing horse and old Erzurum houses. "Visitors ask how we do it, and it draws a lot of interest," he said.
According to the student, the museum has hosted more than 300,000 visitors since it opened. He said he often passes by the museum on his way to school during hot weather and stops in to cool off before continuing.
"The ice museum is active in summer too. It cools visitors down in Erzurum's heat, and it's more effective and colder than air conditioning. Sometimes we even get visitors who come just to cool off," Dogan said.
He explained that the museum produces its own ice using on-site storage units and freezers, cutting it to specific measurements with a saw and shaping it according to design using hand saws and carving tools.
Dogan noted that an ice-carving course is taught at the museum, where students work on-site making ice sculptures. He said exhibitions are usually built around graduate and doctoral projects related to the Erzurum region and its culture.
"We also make works like birds and penguins for children, but most of the works reflect the Erzurum region," he said.
Dogan added that the museum is considering adding color to the ice in the future. "We'll be launching a project like this that hasn't been seen before; we're in a trial-and-error process," he said.
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