Zindankapı, one of the 6 gates of Bursa's walls, where tortures were carried out and executions were performed centuries ago, came to life with art after 2,500 years. Zindankapı, which witnessed the Bithynia Kingdom, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman periods, and was used for liberty-restricting punishments, torture and executions until the 19th century, was once a place that people were afraid to even pass in front of, but today it has become a place that people line up to see. Zindankapı, with its 3 towers and 'Bloody Well' where executions were carried out at its entrance, has been hosting visitors with its digital exhibition areas since 2021.

Dungeons, defined as closed spaces where liberty-restricting and physical punishments were applied in medieval city walls, have become places that people want to visit in Bursa, thanks to the power of art. Zindankapı, one of the 6 gates of Bursa's walls, also came to life again in the restoration works initiated by Bursa Metropolitan Municipality in 2015. While the dungeons that gave Zindankapı its name, which was opened as a museum in 2021, were designed as a contemporary art gallery, the historical processes of Bursa's walls were arranged to be presented to visitors with technology and interactive areas. Zindankapı, which was built during the reign of Bithynia King Prusias I, and was repaired at various times during the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman periods until the 19th century, and was used for liberty-restricting punishments as well as torture and executions, and where the Bloody Well, where executions were carried out, is located at its entrance, today hosts visitors with its art gallery and digital exhibition areas.

Güney Özkılınç, Head of Bursa Metropolitan Municipality City History and Promotion Department, said that Zindankapı came to life with art after 2,500 years, "Zindankapı was actually built in the 2nd century BC by Bithynia King Prusias I as one of the 6 gates in a corner of Bursa's walls. The walls have 6 gates. Zindankapı is one of these gates. This is a place where both liberty-restricting punishments and physical punishments are applied. At the same time, death penalties are also carried out here. But in addition to death, liberty-restricting punishments such as 6 months, 1 year, 5 years, 10 years are also applied here. Of course, the feature of this place is that the Romans, Byzantines and Ottomans used it as a prison, a dungeon, until the 19th century. The region we are in is actually the meeting point of civilizations. Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman. In this respect, this is a place that really carries interesting traces. Its restoration started in 2015, together with the Bursa Museum Directorate. It was opened in 2021. And since 2021, digital exhibitions have been meeting with viewers, with the people of Bursa. These digital exhibitions will continue. We will bring these exhibitions to the people of Bursa and the whole world by increasing them even more. But in addition to this, we also do drama events here. For example, we did an event called 'Escape from the Dungeon' with children. This time, the adults who saw this said, 'We also want to go to Zindankapı and play in this game.' We opened a workshop for them as well. They also came here and they all took part in this 'Escape from the Dungeon' game."

24 HISTORICAL BURSA DRAWINGS REINTERPRETED WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

The walls of Zindankapı's dungeons, once surrounded by despair and pain, came to life with the Bursa drawings of Mary Adalaide Walker, an English traveler-painter and writer who lived in the Ottoman lands. Özkılınç stated that they brought together 24 historical drawings from Walker's work Brousse Album Historique (Bursa History Album), published between 1866-1870, with art lovers by reinterpreting them with artificial intelligence technology, "Mary Adalaide comes to Bursa in the 1860s. A young English woman. Her brother is a priest in Istanbul. She is conducting some research in Istanbul, Kocaeli and Bursa. She travels and Mary Adalaide makes 24 drawings about Bursa. We animated these drawings through artificial intelligence. Our friends Serap Tuğba Yurtsever and Tülay Palaz, our artists, gave life to Mary Adalaide Walker's drawings and opened their exhibitions. You will encounter her Bursa drawings in the dungeons," he said.

'USING TECHNOLOGY HAS MADE THIS THE MOST VISITED MUSEUM'

Güney Özkılınç, stating that Zindankapı is not just digital exhibitions, said, "Of course, it has different sections. Zindankapı has sections on the ground floor for Bithynia, the first floor for Rome, Byzantium, and the top floor for the Ottoman Empire. It has 3 towers, and one of these towers is entirely dedicated to digital art. We have a permanent digital exhibition produced for this museum, for Zindankapı, in one of the towers. That's where the audience is most curious about and interested in. We can actually say the following about Zindankapı. There are replicas in Zindankapı. That is, there are replicas of Byzantine, Bithynian, Roman, and Ottoman weapons and clothing. So there are no real products. Despite this, the fact that we use technology and digital arts has made this the most visited museum. So it has an incredible audience capacity. It is one of the 3 most visited museums among our 12 museums. The City Museum, the Karagöz Museum, and Zindankapı are leading the way among the 12 museums affiliated with the Metropolitan Municipality," he said.

'NOW EVERYONE IS DYING TO VISIT'

Özkılınç, stating that the visitors who come to the museum carry that spirit due to its past profile and are sometimes tense, said:

"In fact, Zindankapı has a very interesting story. I mean, this place was a dungeon from the 2nd century BC to the 19th century and a place where death sentences were carried out. So a place that no one wanted to come to or pass by. But today, it has become a place that everyone is dying to see and visit. So it has such an interesting story. As soon as you enter the garden, the Bloody Well greets you. The children ask. Sometimes even we hesitate. I mean, let's explain this to the children, but there is a reality. And Bloody Well, according to a rumor, is a place where the punished people were thrown and came out of the Cilimboz Creek. We see that thing in the children as they enter. But you know, today's children are curious about such adventures, such mysterious things. Think of it like a Harry Potter book. They enter, they are curious. They say, 'The dungeons were here.' They go upstairs, they see the civilizations. In fact, in one of our floors, there is a mapping showing the development of the 6 neighborhoods that are located within the walls, if I'm not mistaken today. For example, when you move your hand, you see how the inside of the walls was in the 700th year, the 750th year, the 800th, 900th, 1100th, 1315th, how it was in 1845, something brought up to 1940. They are also curious about it, like a game. But through this game, they also learn history. So actually one of the intended things is this. To learn the past, to learn history with that game. Actually, there is also learning about justice here. From prison, captivity, servitude, we are now trying to teach children and young people. We are actually turning this place into an education center as well. By teaching them history, by showing them the stages of Bursa's progress over the years, over the centuries, museums are also educational places at the same time. This place also serves that. Especially when you come to the 3rd tower, the mappings there are really very interesting and fascinating. I mean, children and young people, even adults are very impressed by it. It has a very poetic expression. So we also have a mapping that tells about captivity, servitude, and freedom, the value of freedom. In fact, this environment is a place where there is a completely visual show. This is more fascinating for people."

'BURSA, AS A WHOLE, IS AN OPEN-AIR MUSEUM'

Özkılınç stated that children learn history by visiting museums more than from textbooks, and said:

"There are over 5,000 registered buildings in Bursa. For example, İznik is a museum in itself. I mean, put a gate at the entrance and exit of İznik, cut museum tickets at the entrance, it will be. When we come to Bursa, there are traces of both the Ottoman, Byzantine, and Roman empires. Of course, Bursa as a whole is an open-air museum, I think a student, a young person, a citizen learns a lot by visiting. But in addition to this, there are 12 museums belonging only to the Metropolitan Municipality, and if we count the museums belonging to the districts and our Ministry of Culture, that is, the Provincial Culture and Tourism Directorate, there are about 30 museums in Bursa. And each of these is in a branch. For example, if you want to learn about Karagöz, there is the Karagöz Museum. If you want to learn about life in Bursa, the Museum of Life Culture is just 200 meters below. If you want to learn about the conquest, the Conquest Museum, or something related to the sky, related to Mevleviism, the Mevlevihane is right next to us. So when you look at it like this, we can count Atatürk House and Hünkar Pavilion and the Archeology Museum, the Museum of Turkish Islamic Arts, and many other museums, the City Museum. I think we can call museums a school in this respect."

400 THOUSAND PEOPLE VISITED IN 4 YEARS

Özkılınç also mentioned that they will create a cultural route starting from the Historical Bazaar and Inns District, known as Old Bursa, to Zindankapı, and stated that all museums belonging to the Metropolitan Municipality can be visited free of charge between 10:00-17:00, except on Mondays. Özkılınç, pointing out that art beautifies everywhere it touches, even if it is a dungeon, said that Zindankapı has been visited by 400 thousand people since 2021 when it was opened, and said, "Nearly 30 thousand people have visited it since the beginning of 2025. For example, last year's figure, in 2024, a total of 112 thousand of our citizens visited here. So, when viewed in this respect, quite a few people come even without the necessary promotion. Imagine if it was promoted. Many more people will come here. This place consists of very interesting sections. It has 6 dungeons. The chief jailer sits at the head. 7 sections with him. When you enter, there is a structure in front of you that makes you feel like you can never get out of here again. You go down and 1 floor down and these are 6 dungeons. So, there is almost no chance of escaping from here. Now, of course, you freely and comfortably enter, even competing with each other to enter, and you encounter digital art. You visit here as if these bad things didn't happen, as if nothing like that happened here, and you leave happily. There are many examples of this in our country. A museum was built in Ulucanlar in Ankara. These are the places where executions were carried out in the past. Zindankapı is also like that. So, art and culture, even the places where the most ruthless events took place, think of Sabahattin Ali's Sinop Prison, beautifies them a lot, turns them into very beautiful places. With the power of art, places that people were once afraid to enter can become places where reservations are made in advance," he said.