Edirne, ziyaretçi sayısını artırmayı hedefliyor.

Kayıtlı 1368 kültür varlığı ve 894 sivil mimari örneği ile “open air museum” görünümünde olan Edirne, son zamanlarda açılan müzeleriyle kültür turizminde öne çıkmaya devam ediyor.

Turkish and Islamic Works, Edirne, Balkan History, Foundation Works, Fatih Sultan Mehmet, Necmi İğe House Ethnography, Edirne City, Hasan Ali Yücel Children, Sultan 2nd Bayezid Complex for Health, National Struggle and Lausanne, Ilhan Koman Sculpture and Painting, Osman İnci, Uzunköprü City, Turkic States Established in History, Ottoman Sultans, Sultan’s Tent, Ottoman Works in the Balkans, and Natural History Museums are located in the city.

Its historical texture as well as its museums attract visitors to the city. Provincial Director of Culture and Tourism Kemal Soytürk said that Edirne is progressing steadily towards becoming a “City of Museums.” Soytürk stated that the number of visitors, which was around 700,000 last year, has increased by nearly 50% this year, saying, “Our museums hosted 1 million visitors last year, which is a significant number. Of course, we are not satisfied with this; we want to make the museums a living, dynamic place.”

“AFTER ÇANAKKALE, THE SECOND-LARGEST FORTRESS”

Soytürk emphasized the importance of the Balkan History Museum, opened in 2021, among the museums in Edirne. Describing the museum as the second-largest fortress after Çanakkale, Soytürk said, “Hıdırlık Fortress is visited intensively by both locals and visitors from outside the city. We host visitors who come to visit Çanakkale from Istanbul, Bursa, and Izmir regions here. We want our museums to be living museums. We attach importance to bringing our children living in the city together at the Balkan History Museum. We introduce our ancestors to our children here.”

Soytürk said that they provide detailed information about cultural heritage to museum visitors and give children the book “Open Air Museum Edirne” as a gift to introduce the city’s cultural values to future generations.

THE IMPORTANT MUSEUMS IN THE CITY ARE AS FOLLOWS:

Health Museum

The Medical School, formerly known as Medrese-i Etıbba, which constitutes an important part of the complex, consists of the medrese and infirmary sections. The section where physicians of the period were trained includes 18 student rooms, a classroom, and a central courtyard. In the infirmary where music, sound of water, and pleasant scents were also used during treatment, the development of medicine is explained with texts and medical equipment of that period. Miniatures are also used to reflect the period in the museum.

Except for the mosque of the complex, the other parts were transferred to Trakya University (TÜ) by the General Directorate of Foundations in 1984. The work of converting it into a health museum within Trakya University began in 1993, and with the approval of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 1997, it officially became a museum. With the contributions of the Reinforcement of Mental Patients Society, the infirmary was arranged as a Psychiatry History Department in 2000. The museum, which won the European Council’s European Museum Award in 2004, won the best 2nd presentation at the “World Award-Winning Museum Meeting” in Dubrovnik, Croatia in 2005, the best presentation award in Cologne, Germany in 2008, and was awarded the bronze award at the Mercury Excellence Awards, one of the most prestigious awards in the communication sector, earlier this year.

Turkish Islamic Works Museum

The Turkish Islamic Works Museum in the courtyard of the Selimiye Mosque is an important part of Edirne’s museums as a thematic museum in tourism. The medrese, consisting of the main classroom, student rooms, and a porticoed courtyard, has been serving for the same purpose for 100 years in its transformed form as a museum.

In the gallery room where various valuable items such as inscriptions, tombstones, ancient weapons, and lodge items are exhibited, representations specific to Kırkpınar are also included in the Kırkpınar exhibition room.

Selimiye Foundation Museum

In the museum located in the courtyard of the Selimiye Mosque, examples of historic items donated or acquired from mosque and masjids by the General Directorate of Foundations, ceramic pieces found during the restorations of structures from the Ottoman period, calligraphic boards coming from mosque and masjids, Qurans, candelabras, hilyes, astrolabes, desks, ceramic pieces, and various objects are exhibited. In the large room used as a classroom, an interpretation reflecting the original function of the building is presented, and the story of Mimar Sinan is tried to be told in the portico section.

Edirne Archaeology and Ethnography Museum:

The museum is located behind the Selimiye Mosque. The museum includes galleries of pottery, textiles, wood, bone, and metal artifacts in the Archaeology and Ethnography section. In the archaeology section of the museum, Edirne’s fish ponds and aviaries related to the water culture of Edirne and the fishponds are exhibited, along with Roman tombs, dolmens, menhirs, tombstones belonging to the Ottoman period, column capitals belonging to the Hellenistic, Roman, and Eastern Roman periods, statues, and artifacts.

“Turkish States Established in History”, “Ottoman Sultans”, “Sultan’s Tent” and “Ottoman Works in the Balkans” museums

These four museums that tell history and culture are located in the Ekmekçizade Ahmetpaşa Caravanserai, a 17th-century work built by Sedefkar Mehmet Efendi and used as an inn in the Yancıkçı Şahin neighborhood.

The silicone statues of the founders of the 16 Turkish states established in history, 36 Ottoman sultans, and the Founder of the Republic of Turkey, Great Leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, are exhibited in the museum. In the museum, the reception of congratulations by Sultan Murad II in the Imperial Tent after the Varna Victory is also depicted. Ottoman works in the Balkans are also exhibited in this complex.

Fatih Sultan Mehmet Museum

Saatli Medrese, built by Fatih Sultan Mehmed’s father, Sultan Murad II, was converted into a museum and opened to visitors in 2021.

The life of the Edirneli Fatih is narrated with silicone statues in actual size, dioramas with sixty specially designed figures, and miniatures designed like an illustrated book that interprets traditional arts with contemporary designs in the museum.