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Museum Curatorial |
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| Curatorial work in Turkey was initiated by famous painter and curator Osman Hamdi Bey at the end of the 19th century and it recorded significant improvement after the foundation of the Republic. The main reason for this improvement is the importance Atatürk attached to the research on cultural assets and the steady rise in the number of museums all over the country. When the Republic was proclaimed there were only the İstanbul Archeological Museum known as the “Asar-ı Atika Müzesi” (Museum of Antiquities), the Military Museum housed in St. Irene, the Evkaf-ı İslamiye Müzesi (Museum of Islamic Foundations) within the Süleymaniye Mosque Complex and branches of the Müze-i Humayun (Imperial Museum) opened in some large cities of Anatolia. |
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| The Türk Asar-ı Atikası (The Turkish Antiquities) depart-ment, established during the first years of the Republic as an affiliate of the Ministry of Education, made efforts to gather and protect all kinds of archeological and ethnographical finds. Many monumental buildings such as churches, mosques and caravanserai in various provinces of Anatolia were restored and converted into museums. |
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| The Topkapı Palace, having been converted into a museum together with its furnishings and effects, was opened to the public in 1927. The Evkaf-ı İslamiye Müzesi was reorganized as the “Museum of Turkish and Islamic Works of Art” and the Mevlana Dervish Lodge in Konya was converted into a museum in the same year. |
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Museum of Anatolian Civilizations - ANKARA |
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The Ankara Ethnographical Museum, the first building in Turkey originally designed as a museum, was opened to the public in 1927 as well. New museums were also established in Bursa, Adana, Manisa, İzmir, Kayseri, Antalya, Afyon, Bergama and Edirne. The Hittite Museum, set up in the Mahmut Pasha Bedesten in Ankara in 1940, was restored in 1967 and renamed the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. At present there are 95 museum directorates around the country affiliated to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 98 private museums and 1,522 private collectors, all under the supervision of these directorates. |
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| The artworks which comprise the collections of these museums generally belong to various ages of civilization in Anatolia. A great majority of these items have been unearthed in archeological excavations most of which started in mid-1930s. Besides the enormous archeological collec-tions comprising prehistoric artifacts and products from the ages of antiquity, items belonging to Eastern Art and also to the Turkish-Islamic period comprise the second largest group. In addition, there are memorial museums associated with Ottoman history, the National War of Independence and the republican reforms, which have been restored in authenticity together with their own furnishings. |
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| A model of the house in which Atatürk was born in Salonica was built in Ankara and turned into a museum. This museum displays Atatürk’s life and principles in documents and hand writings. In addition, the buildings in which Atatürk conducted the National War of Independence and the buildings in which he was hosted during his visits to various cities were also converted into museums. |
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| Still another group of museums in Turkey are the Museum Houses and Memorial Museums. The Çakırağa Mansion in Birgi; the Hazeranlar Mansion in Amasya; the Ziya Gökalp Museum House in Diyarbakır, and the Tevfik Fikret Aşiyan House in İstanbul may be cited among such museums. |
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| The preservation of buildings of historical interest in the form of museums began in the 1930s. The Dolmabahçe Palace, Hagia Sophia (St. Sophia), Kariye Church, Fethiye and İmrahor Mosques in İstanbul and the Yeşil Türbe (Green Tomb) and Muradiye Complex in Bursa are the most significant examples of such museums. Moreover, the ruins of many ancient cities have also been converted into open |
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