Edirne City Museum

The "Edirne City Museum" project of Edirne, which lives and is kept alive with its historical values, was initiated on 31 August 2015 by Edirne Municipality in partnership with the Trakya Development Agency, with the aim of transferring Edirne's urban history and cultural richness and cultural historical heritage to future generations, as well as raising the sense of belonging and urban awareness of the citizens and increasing the tourism potential of the city, and its opening coincided with 5 May, the conquest of Edirne, and opened its doors to its guests on this historical anniversary in 2017.

Hafız Aga Mansion, which hosts the museum, was used as the secret Edirne branch of the Committee of Union and Progress at the beginning of the 20th century, the oaths of the new members of the society were taken in this mansion and witnessed the history of the political life of the last period of the Ottoman Empire. With the repair, redesign and conservation of Hafız Ağa Mansion, a registered building, Edirne City Museum contributes to the tourism and promotion of the city. 

The museum deals with the story of Edirne starting from its early ages and reminds its bright days with the five sultans it carried during the Ottoman period, as well as the silicon sculptures of the five sultans who lived the throne life in Edirne. In addition, the natural disasters and catastrophes experienced by the city, the traces of four different occupations and invasions are taken from the social cultural memory and expressed in the exhibition area.

With the touch screen technologies used in the museum, visitors can visit Selimiye Mosque, the most important architectural structure of the city, in 360 degrees, read the history of the city that does not fit on the panels in depth on the screens, and listen to the city from the language of the locals in the oral history section.

The project received the implementation award at the "Competition for the Encouragement of Projects and Practices for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Heritage", the Best Socio-Cultural Building award at the Sign of the Awards (SotCA) real estate competition, and an award in the Culture and Arts Category at the Golden Ant Municipalism Awards.

On the first floor of the 3-storey museum, where all the hidden and unknown aspects of Edirne from past to present are exhibited and which has an important contribution to the memory of the city, there is a section containing information such as climate, fauna, transportation as well as general characteristics of Edirne and a museum library.

On the second floor, 8,300 years of history from the Chalcolithic period to the Republican period is presented to the visitors with various visual materials, while the period of Edirne's capital city is made to be felt by the visitors in a professional manner.

On the third floor is the Kırkpınar and Sports Section, which is one of the highlights of the museum. In this section, visitors are welcomed by the Kırkpınar Anthem, whose lyrics and composition belong to Beyazıt Sansı. In this section, there is also a nostalgic jersey from the years when Edirnespor took the second league by storm.

In the corner reserved for Atatürk, a video of Atatürk during his visit to Edirne is played. On the third floor, where there is also information about Edirne's food and music culture, there is also a corner dedicated to Deli Selim, one of the symbols of Edirne. In addition, Journalist Ali, who delivered newspapers the old-fashioned way in the 1950s and is still remembered by those who are older, welcomes visitors with a photograph of him delivering newspapers.

One of the most interesting points of the museum is the section on the revolts and migration events that Edirne has witnessed throughout history. It is explained with various photographs and documents that 50 thousand people had to migrate to Anatolia when Edirne was occupied by the Russians in 1829, and that many people were forced to migrate to Anatolia during the 1877-78 Ottoman-Russian War, also known as the 93 War.

It is affiliated to Edirne Municipality and welcomes its visitors in the status of a private museum.

Address : Babademirtas Neighborhood, Hacı Hasan Street, No:1

Telephone : (0284) 214 73 79

E Mail : edirnekentmuzesi.com

Visiting Days : Open on all days except Monday.

Visiting Hours : Summer - Winter 09.00-18.00

Fee : Paid (under 4 and over 65 free of charge)

MuseumCard : Invalid