Ankara Veteriner Anatomi Müzesi

About Ankara Veteriner Anatomi Müzesi

Ankara Veteriner Anatomi Müzesi is the anatomy exhibition of the Department of Anatomy at the Ankara University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, housed in the department building (building number 10) on the faculty grounds. The university has described it as the first anatomy museum in Türkiye. The department traces its work in preparing anatomical specimens back to the Military Veterinary School founded in Istanbul in 1842 and to the anatomy chair set up in 1933 within the Yüksek Ziraat Enstitüsü in Ankara. Many specimens built up over the years were lost for lack of a place to keep and show them, so in 2009 the department decided to create a permanent veterinary anatomy exhibition hall. After about four years of preparation, training and installation, the museum opened officially on 10 June 2013, the 80th anniversary of the department, together with a unit for preparing anatomical specimens. According to the university, the displays are arranged in five main sections: bones, joints and muscles first, then preparations of the digestive, respiratory, urinary, reproductive and nervous systems. There are also stuffed animals and anatomical charts drawn in the 1940s by Sebahattin Tuncer. In 2013 the inventory held more than 350 pieces, the oldest dating from 1933, and most are made from real tissue, such as skeletons, taxidermy and plastinated specimens; no live animals were used to create them. The exhibition hall can be visited on weekdays from 09:00 to 12:00 and 13:30 to 17:30. Groups of more than ten people, including schools and nurseries, must book in advance with the department secretary. A virtual tour is available on the museum website.