The second of the Midas Silk House, the first of which was established by Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality in 2020, was opened with a magnificent ceremony. Midas Silk House, which will strengthen Eskişehir's place in the historical Silk Road Project, will make significant contributions to farmers, trainees and the city economy.
Silkworm, which is one of the rural development projects of the Metropolitan Municipality and started in 2017 by supporting producers with hundreds of thousands of mulberry saplings, is in Eskişehir, one of the most important stops of the historical Silk Road in Anatolia, starting from China and extending to Europe via the Mediterranean and Anatolia. Breeding Project has moved to a new phase.
In the Midas Silk House, which was designed as a continuation of the project and opened in 2020, silk threads obtained from the cocoons grown by farmers were processed by trainees and produced and sold at Producer Markets and Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality Guest House.
The second Midas Silk House, which will strengthen its place in Eskişehir's Historical Silk Road Project, was put into service with a grand opening. Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Mayor Hasan Ünal, General Secretary Ayşe Ünlüce, Deputy General Secretary Senem Ekinci, Seyitgazi Mayor Uğur Tepe, Kozabirlik Board Chairman Ramazan attended the opening of the second Midas Silk House in ESMEK Touristic Handicrafts Center located in the Historical Odunpazarı Region. Ministry of Light, Culture and Tourism Intangible Cultural Heritage Bearer Silk Weaving Artist and Project Consultant Kasım Uzunöz, bureaucrats, trainees, trainers, guests and citizens attended.
Speaking at the opening, Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Mayor Hasan Ünal pointed out that silk has a deep-rooted history in Eskişehir and stated that cocoon production was carried out in Central Sakarya in the 1980s and that it made a great contribution to the economy. Ünal said, “Our teacher Yılmaz took up the issue of sericulture and movement started again. At Midas Silk House, we aim to both provide economic contribution to our trainees and make our farmers profitable. "It is a very important project for Eskişehir, good luck and good luck." he said.
In her speech, Metropolitan Municipality Secretary General Ayşe Ünlüce said, “As Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality, we started the Sericulture Project in 2017 with the vision of our teacher Yılmaz Büyükerşen and set out to revive silk on the Historical Silk Road route. We have distributed more than 2017 thousand mulberry saplings since 300. In 2020, we opened the first Silk House to both produce silk and produce products. Our trainees, who see silk as a means of socio-economic development and increasing women's employment in Eskişehir, carry out many design, production and presentation works through ESMEK. We are very happy and excited. Congratulations." said.
Midas Silk House teacher Meltem Tuncer stated that they were very excited and happy and said, “I would like to thank our Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Yılmaz Büyükerşen, our General Secretary Ayşe Ünlüce and all those who supported us for entrusting this project to us. We aim to sustain the sustainability of traditional methods and techniques with the workshops we started in 2020 and 2023 weaving looms, cocoon pulling, and yarn making in 15. In both of our workshops, the journey of silk will progress with firm steps, nourishing from its own roots.” he said.
Silk Weaving Artist and Project Consultant Kasım Uzunöz stated that they experienced a historical day with the opening and said, “The map of the Historical Silk Road is being updated and revived again. The current map in Midas Silk House shows the details of silk's journey in Turkey. These details were fed from many sources and compiled and graphed in such detail for the first time. This is a historical event. We must remember that silk is a very important means of production and trade for us and we must popularize it again. Young people should understand and recognize the importance of silk and know our place in the history of the Silk Road. Congratulations." said.
After the speeches, the protocol members shot cocoon silk fiber and opened the Midas Silk House. Protocol members and guests examined the weaving looms and made the first weaving on the weaving looms. The ceremony was completed with a photo taken.