Anadolu Mimarlık ve Mobilya Kültürel Miras Müzesi (Merik Konağı)

About Anadolu Mimarlık ve Mobilya Kültürel Miras Müzesi (Merik Konağı)

The Anatolian Architecture and Furniture Cultural Heritage Museum is a private museum housed in Merik Konağı, a mansion near Bilkent that is popularly known as the Altın Köşk (Golden Mansion). The museum describes itself as Turkey's first museum of furniture and architecture; it was registered by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 2008 and, according to Turkish Wikipedia, opened on 25 December 2008. The building itself is the main exhibit. Completed in 1996, it was designed as a blend of some 1,000 forms and motifs taken from about 30 buildings of Anatolian and Ottoman architecture, including palaces, pavilions, mansions, mosques and houses, and every detail inside and out is the handwork of craftsmen. Turkish Wikipedia notes that its exterior is clad in a valuable species of red cedar imported from the United States, and that its first owner was Ali Rıza Bozkurt, a Turk living in America. The museum says the mansion was built to pass on Turkish architecture, furniture and ways of living of the 17th to 19th centuries to future generations. Inside, the museum shows furniture and accessories used in Ottoman palaces and pavilions of that period, including hand-carved pieces made by Sultan Abdülhamid II, who was known as a furniture maker, thrones of Sultan Abdülaziz and a set of guest furniture used by Sultan Vahdettin at Dolmabahçe Palace. According to its website, the museum is closed on Mondays, open from 13.30 to 16.30 on Tuesdays and from 10.30 to 16.30 on other days. Entry is free for children under seven and visitors over 65, and photo ID must be shown at the entrance for security reasons.