Mehmet Akif Ersoy Müze Evi

About Mehmet Akif Ersoy Müze Evi

Mehmet Akif Ersoy Müze Evi is the old Ankara house in Altındağ where the poet Mehmet Âkif Ersoy lived during the Turkish War of Independence and wrote many of his poems, above all the İstiklâl Marşı, the national anthem of Türkiye. The two-storey timber building was once the Taceddin Dergâhı, a lodge of the Celvetî branch of the Bayramiye order, and it now sits within the boundaries of the central campus of Hacettepe University. The lodge takes its name from Taceddin Sultan, whose grave lies in its garden. It was repaired in 1826, and additions under Sultan Abdülmecid turned it into a small complex with a tomb, lodge house, fountain, graveyard and the Taceddin Sultan mosque. When Mehmet Âkif came to Ankara to join the national struggle, Tevfik Hoca, imam of the mosque, gave him the house at a time when rented rooms in the city were very hard to find. He lived here while serving as member of the first Grand National Assembly for Burdur, began writing the anthem here at the urging of his friend Hasan Basri Bey, and also wrote his well-known poem Bülbül in the house. The story goes that he scratched some verses on the walls by candlelight so as not to lose them in the night. The city council decided to turn the house into a museum in 1949, but it stood in poor repair for many years; it was restored in 1982 and opened to visitors in 1984. Exhibits include a pocket watch, glasses, prayer beads and a rifle that belonged to the poet, and a cast of his face. Opposite the house stand a bust of Mehmet Âkif made in 2003 and an inscription with the first two verses of the anthem. The politician Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu and the writer Nuri Pakdil are buried in the garden. According to the Ministry of Education, the museum opens from Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 17:00, is closed on Mondays and has free entry. The Mehmet Akif Ersoy Edebiyat Müze Kütüphanesi, a separate literature museum and library, is nearby in Hamamönü.