Operet Sahnesi

About Operet Sahnesi

The Operet Sahnesi (Operetta Stage) is the historic auditorium inside the Ankara Resim ve Heykel Müzesi (State Art and Sculpture Museum) building on Namazgâh Tepesi, between Ulus and Hacettepe in Altındağ. It is one of the stages of the Ankara State Opera and Ballet, which lists it among its Ankara venues. The building was designed by the architect Arif Hikmet Koyunoğlu as the headquarters of the Türk Ocakları (Turkish Hearths) and opened on 23 April 1930; it is regarded as one of the finest examples of the First National Architectural Movement. From 1932 it served as the Ankara Halkevi (People's House), whose rosewood hall with boxes and Turkish decorative motifs hosted some of the Republic's first operas, Özsoy on 19 June 1934 and Taş Bebek on 27 December 1934, as well as the first Turkish History Congress and Turkish Language Congress in 1932. After decades of changing uses the boxes were removed and the stage fell out of use, but a restoration begun in 1985 with support from the Hacı Ömer Sabancı Foundation returned the boxes and ornament to their 1930 form and brought the stage back into use. Today the hall, described as Ankara's first culture and arts hall, has around 426 seats (468 originally). It is used for the State Opera and Ballet's operetta performances and for concerts by other arts institutions and private ensembles, as well as cultural congresses, panels and conferences. A concert billed as Azerbaycan Gecesi took place here in March 2026. Practical notes: performances are announced on the State Opera and Ballet programme page, where you can filter by stage; no Operet Sahnesi performances were listed there in early November 2026, so check the programme before planning a visit. The museum's art collection is in the same building.