MUSEUMS OF ESKISEHIR
Eskisehir's
first museum was established as a depot in 1945 in Alaeddin
Mosque. Later it was moved to the medrese and boy's school
in the precincts of Kursunlu Mosque. Because the buildings
housing is unsuitable for exhibiting the works, a new
building was constructed in Akarbasi in Eskisehir. It
was opened to the public in 1974.
Eskisehir
Archaeological Museum :
In
the show cases in the first section of Eskisehir Archaeological
Museum are plant and animal fossils from the region of
Eskisehir. In the second section, prehistoric works including
earthenware ceramics, idols, stone and bone objects dating
from the Calcolithic to the Hittite period are exhibited.
A separate group of exhibits includes works from the Hittite
to the late Byzantine period. In this section are dishes
of various shapes, figurines, statues, steles, and metal
and glass objects. The walls of the room are decorated
with the Late Roman period mosaics found in excavations
at Sartioyuk (Doryleum).
There
is also a collection of coins from the pre-Islamic and
Islamic periods. In the courtyard of the museum are inscriptions,
steles, sarcophagi, column capitals and building stones
etc. from the Roman and Byzantine periods.
Eskisehir
Archaeological Museum was designed as an educational museum.
It contains examples of the archaeological wealth of the
region. There are administrative offices, a laboratory,
a workshop and depots in the museum building.
Eskisehir
Ethnographic Museum (Ottoman House) :
With
the aim of preserving one of the particularly interesting
examples of Ottoman civil architecture in Eskisehir, Yesil
Efendi House was built in the middle of the nineteenth
century. It was bought up by the state and restored. The
ceilings and cupboards provide beautiful examples of woodcarving.
In the house are exhibited ethnographic works from the
region of Eskisehir.
Eskisehir
- Ataturk and Culture Museum:
The
building, which originally housed the Appeal Court and
Adalet Primary School in Eskisehir, was turned into the
Ataturk and Culture Museum in 1970.
The
first section of the museum is reserved for objects concerning
Ataturk. This keeps alive the memory of the 16 occasions
on which he visited Eskisehir from 1920 to 1938. In the
Ataturk room are clothes worn by Ataturk, dinner services
and walking sticks used by him, and photopraphs and documents
recording his visits to Eskisehir. In the other two rooms
are ethnographic works from the region of Eskisehir. They
include clothing, embroidery, ornaments, weapons etc.
Eskisehir
- Picture and Sculpture Gallery:
The
Eskisehir Picture and Sculpture Gallery is housed in the
soup kitchen building in the precincts of Kursunlu Mosque.
It was built in the Ottoman period. In the gallery are
permanent and temporary exhibitions of the pictures and
sculpture of Turkish artists. The museum also conducts
educational art studies.
Yunus
Emre Museum :
The
Yunus Emre Museum is situated in Yunus Emre village in
the Eskisehir sub-province of Mihaliocik. It was opened
in 1971. There is also a mausoleum in memory of the great
Turkish poet, Yunus Emre.
The
museum contains a collection of the poet's lyric poems,
his pictures, and documents and books about him.
Seyitgazi
Museum:
Seyitgazi
Museum is situated in the soup kitchen and school in the
Seyit Battalgazi Kulliye in the Eskisehir. It was opened
in 1970.
The
Seyid Battal Gazi Kulliye was built in the Seljuk period
in memory of the legendary Turkish hero and bandit, Seyid
Battal Gazi. The museum was enlarged during the Ottoman
period and is important as both a monument and museum.
The museum contains both archaeological and ethnographic
works found in the region of Seyitgazi. Among the archaeological
works are dishes, clay sarcophagi and figurines, statues
and busts, glass objects and building stones from the
Phrygian and Roman period. Among the ethnographic works
are embroidery, standards, objects used by dervishes,
pieces of carpets and kilims, inscriptions, candle sticks,
ornaments, dishes etc. There is also the Tomb of Seyid
Battal Gazi to visit.
Pessinus
and Yazilikaya:
There
are two open air museum's in the province of Eskisehir:
One at the site of Pessinus, a Phrygian city where the
ruins of the Cybele Temple were found. It is situated
at the village of Ballihisar 15 km south of Sivrihisar.
The other site is at Yazilikaya. It was the site of remains
of a Phrygian period city known as the City of Midas.
It is near Cifteler in Eskisehir province.
