Donated antiques on display at Atatürk Congress Museum

SİVAS

A temporary exhibition hall created within the Atatürk Congress Museum in the central province of Sivas is taking visitors on a journey through time with more than 300 antique items donated by local residents.

The exhibition showcases the rich heritage of the Divriği region through an array of traditional weights and measures, jewelry and other such items.

Visitors can also explore historical bathhouse and kitchen artifacts, antique lighting equipment and beautifully crafted architectural details such as door knockers and gates.

Museum director İlker Deveci told state-run Anadolu Agency that the building served as a school until 1981 and was converted into a museum following restoration work carried out between 1981 and 1990.
He said the first floor functioned as an ethnography museum and the second floor as a congress museum until 2012.

Following another restoration project completed between 2012 and 2016, the facility was transformed into the National Struggle Museum.

According to Deveci, residents who wished to donate historical objects from their homes approached the museum, prompting officials to establish the temporary exhibition hall to display the items.
“We are presenting more than 300 objects from our collection to visitors,” he said.

Several of the artifacts were donated by Ahmet Turan Türkmenoğlu, widely known as “Hacı Beslen,” while others came from prominent local figures, including Faruk Aburşu and educator Ahmet Necip Günaydın.

“We organized the displays by theme,” Deveci said.

“There are showcases dedicated to weights and measures, jewelry and accessories, items reflecting Sivas’ historic kitchen and bathhouse culture, lighting equipment, door knockers, gates and handles used particularly in the Divriği region.”

Deveci said the museum welcomes visitors from across Türkiye and abroad and noted a significant increase in attendance following the introduction of high-speed rail service to Sivas
“Visitor demand for both our city and museum has increased by 40 percent since the arrival of the high-speed train,” he said. “We expect that figure to rise even further during the summer months.”

He added that the collection is unique because it includes items donated by ordinary citizens as well as notable local figures.

Sivas’ traditional kitchen and bathhouse culture attracts the greatest interest from visitors, while displays of jewelry and accessories are also particularly popular, he said.

The exhibition additionally features original movie posters from the 1950s donated by Mustafa Aburşu, a reference to the city’s third International Film Festival.

The temporary exhibition hall opened to visitors on May 18 as part of International Museum Day celebrations.

“Since all museums affiliated with the Culture and Tourism Ministry offered free admission on Museum Day, we experienced significant visitor traffic,” Deveci said.

“Approximately 20,000 people visited our museum.”