Why Is There an Apartment Building Called Metallica?

Would you live in the Metallica apartments? How about the Nirvana apartments?

Each is possible in Mersin, Türkiye, where two adjacent apartment buildings are called Metallica and Nirvana. Atop the Metallica one, the metal band’s classic wordmark is alight in blue.

It went viral this month, and we’re now learning it’s the work of contractor Mosbah Drav, a 56-year-old rock and metal fan who immigrated from Syria to Türkiye in 2012. He named it as an ode to Metallica, but the Nirvana complex appears to share its name with the grunge band by coincidence.

See the video near the bottom of this post.

READ MORE: Is Metallica Rock or Metal?

“When I started this building, this construction, I planned to give it the name Metallica,” Drav tells Voice of Turkey in an interview. “Why? Because I like this music band, I like this music — hard rock, speed metal, Megadeth, Def Leppard.”

Metallica + Nirvana Apartment Buildings

The metal-loving contractor said that while the adjacent apartment building is called Nirvana, the outfit that built that structure was uninformed of the moniker’s musical significance.

“They gave it the name, but they don’t know the meaning of Nirvana,” Drav explains. “They’re one company, but I am another company.”

However, he already has the name for his next building ready. Can you guess what it is?

“I will give Guns N’ Roses the other construction,” Drav says, “and I will put the logo in the entrance and I will sign it, ‘Welcome to the Jungle.'”

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Contractor Mosbah Drav Explains the Metallica Apartment Building