The northwestern province of Edirne, which served as the Ottoman Empire’s capital for 92 years, has gained a new center for knowledge and learning with the opening of a five-story public library offering 8,812 square meters of indoor space and capacity for more than 1,000 people at a time.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Edirne Provincial Public Library, Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said he was pleased to bring a new library to a city entrusted to the present by its ancestors.
Ersoy said the library would enrich the city not only through its books and information resources but also through the voices of children, the energy of young people and the curiosity of readers.
Ersoy said the ministry continues to modernize libraries in line with society’s changing needs. Edirne currently has 10 public libraries affiliated with the ministry: one provincial library, eight district libraries and one neighborhood library.
Built on a 3,530-square-meter plot owned by the ministry, the new library has a total indoor area of 8,812 square meters and can accommodate 160,000 books. Construction and furnishing work has been completed.
The facility offers a study environment for students, research areas for young people and spaces where residents can read and pursue personal development. Its seating capacity allows more than 1,000 people to use the library simultaneously.
Designed to serve people of all ages, the library includes dedicated areas for babies and children, a 24-hour study hall, adult reading spaces and group study rooms.
Workshops, a conference hall, a mini cinema and accessible facilities for people with disabilities have also been incorporated into the building.
“This is not merely a place where books are kept; it will be a meeting point where people of all ages can learn, create and prepare for the future,” Ersoy said.
He added that the new generation of public libraries offers a broad range of services, from information and digital resources to educational programs, workshops and cultural and arts events.
The Edirne Provincial Public Library also houses a service area for the Selimiye Manuscript Library, which operates under the Türkiye Manuscripts Institution.
Its existing collection includes more than 3,500 manuscripts and over 9,000 rare printed works, according to Ersoy.
The new facility features six exhibition units and a storage area with a capacity of 30,000 works. Researchers will be able to consult facsimile and translated editions, access manuscript databases and obtain high-resolution digital copies.
The space will also host academic meetings, manuscript seminars, thematic workshops, panels and introductory programs for students, supporting scholarly research and the sharing of cultural heritage.
Addressing children and young people, Ersoy encouraged them to use the library to study, read, research, discover, create and dream.
HH Nearly 500-year-old Muradiye Mevlevi Lodge restored
Following the library opening, Ersoy attended the inauguration of the Muradiye Mevlevi Lodge, a historic structure with a history of nearly five centuries that was demolished in 1935.
The lodge was restored on its original site following archaeological research excavations carried out in 2024 and has now reopened as a cultural and arts center, Ersoy said.
The center comprises a library, workshops for calligraphy, Edirnekâri decorative arts, illumination and marbling, as well as a gathering space known as the Assembly of Conversation and Wisdom and a semahane, a hall used for Mevlevi whirling ceremonies.
Ersoy said the restored complex would contribute to Edirne’s cultural and artistic life.
