14 museums you must see

Izmir, which dates back about 8,500 years, is a city that has hosted many civilizations from the Ionians to the Lydians, and from the Persians to the Roman Empire and Byzantium. As such, there are many museums in the city as a reflection of this situation. If you are thinking of going to Izmir, you can take a short trip to these civilizations thanks to the Izmir Museums. Here you must see it Izmir museums.

1. Izmir Ataturk Museum

We start our article on the museums of Izmir with the Ataturk Museum. Izmir Ataturk Museum is located at 1st Kordon. The museum building, which is very accessible, was built by carpet merchant Takfor Efendi between 1875 and 1880.

When the building, abandoned by its owner on September 9, 1922, became the property of the treasury, the Turkish army that entered Izmir used it for a while as a headquarters. On October 13, 1926, the municipality bought it and gave it to Atatürk as a gift.

Atatürk stayed in this house every time he came to Izmir between 1930 and 1934. When he died, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality turned the mansion into a museum. The museum building is built in the neoclassical style; It has 4 floors: basement, entrance, first floor and attic. When you visit the Museum, also known as Gazi Mansion, you can see Atatürk’s bedroom, study, meeting room, guest room, bathroom, barber room, library and reception room.

2. Izmir Ethnographic Museum

The historical building, which now houses the Izmir Ethnographic Museum, is built in St. It was built by the French as Roche Hospital and Abbey. The building, which was used as an orphanage in the early years of the Republic, was used as a service building for the Public Health Corporation and the Directorate of Health in the following years. In 1984, it was transferred to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to become the Museum of Ethnography.

It is possible to see sections of the social life of the people of Izmir in the 19th century at the Ethnography Museum, which is located on the same grounds as the Izmir Archaeological Museum. In addition, handicrafts such as pottery, tin making, horseshoe making, woodblock printing, felt making, carpet weaving, and evil eye beads, which are on the verge of extinction, are presented through mannequins. On the other hand, the “Atihat Pharmacy” displayed in the museum attracts special attention from visitors because it is the first Turkish pharmacy.

3. Izmir Archeology Museum

Izmir Archeology Museum, which is one of the first museums in Western Anatolia, was established for the first time in 1924 in the Ayafukla Church in Basman. In 1984, it was put into operation in its new building in Bahri Baba Park in Konak. Hosting rich artifacts from distant and recent history, the entrance floor of the Izmir Archaeological Museum houses the Hall of Stone Works. Here, exquisite sculptures, busts, portraits, and masks are on display.

Ord. the professor. In the Ekrem Akürgal Hall of Ceramic Works, there are many works from prehistoric times to the Byzantine era. The statue of Androklos, one of the most interesting pieces in the museum and dated to the Roman era, is believed to belong to Androklos, the founder of the city of Ephesus.

4. Izmir Museum of History and Art

Opened in 2004, Izmir Museum of History and Art displays sculptures and reliefs from ancient, classical, Hellenistic, and Roman times in and around Izmir. In the museum, heads and small statues from the Izmir Agora were discovered, the statue showing the River God Kaistros, one of the most outstanding works of the Roman era, reliefs discovered during the construction of the subway, various statues from the excavations in Metropolis, friezes from the Temple of Teos Dionysus and relics from Prehistoric settlements around Izmir. In the precious works section are glasswork, bronze sculptures, a treasure room, and coin displays.

5. Izmir Museum of Painting and Sculpture

Izmir Painting and Sculpture Museum is located next to Ataturk Cultural Center in Konak and provides service in a three-storey building. There are more than 400 valuable works in the museum where the works of many artists from the Tanzimat period to the Impressionists of the Galle generation are housed, from the Union of Independent Painters and Sculptors to the D Artists Group and the Yeniler Group. In the building, which has two exhibition halls in addition to the museum section, courses on traditional crafts such as lighting, miniatures, marble and tile work are also organized.

6. Selcuk Ephesus Museum

The Ephesus Museum hosts rich artifacts from the Mycenaean, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman eras in and around Ephesus. The museum is located in Selcuk district, about one hour from the city center. Despite this, the Selcuk Ephesus Museum remains one of the most visited museums in Izmir. The Statue of Artemis is one of the works that attracts the attention of visitors. Historical artifacts such as the statue of Isis, the head of Socrates, the statue of Priapus and the Eros of Yunus are among the most valuable pieces in the museum.

7. Ige University Natural History Museum

Ege University Natural History Museum, which is the second largest museum in our country among its peers, is the first academic museum in Turkey with postgraduate education program and faculty. Located in the Bornova Campus of Ece University, the museum contains 10-15 million-year-old animals, 350-million-year-old plants, and invertebrate fossils brought from different regions of Turkey. The human footprint, which is believed to belong to the first era, and the 2,000-year-old elephant skeleton in the museum are definitely worth seeing.

8. Izmir Mask Museum

Masks of names like Atatürk, Ismet Inonu, Ayşık Veysel, Atilla Ilhan, Nazim Hikmet and Mehmet Akif Ersoy are on display at the Mask Museum, one of the boutique museums in Izmir. The death mask of Aziz Nesin, the famous professor of Turkish literature, is also here. In the museum where Anatolian masks, stage masks and ritual masks are also displayed, visitors can get mask workshop training.

9. Latifa Hanim Memorial Palace

The spiritual value of Latife Hanim Palace is great because the mother of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Zübeyde Hanim, spent the last days of her life. In the restored palace are wax figures of Ataturk, Zubeida Hanim and Latifa Hanim. Two tall cypress trees in the palace garden, where property of the period are also displayed, are said to have been planted for Atatürk and Latife Hanim. If you are planning to visit the monument house in Karsiyaka, we definitely recommend that you spend some time in the cafeteria intertwined with nature.

10. Women’s Museum in Izmir

Izmir Women’s Museum, one of the boutique museums, is the first women’s museum in our country. Located in Basman, the museum has a total of 13 rooms with different concepts such as exhibition hall, video art, women from past to present, women pioneers, groups, protest and women.

11. Imran Paradan Toy and Toy Museum

In the Imran Baradan Toy and Toy Museum, which is the first toy museum in Izmir and one of the few in Turkey, toys collected by Izmir artist and ceramicist Imran Baradan from different parts of the world are on display. The museum, which is within walking distance from the Archeology Museum, the Ethnography Museum and the historical Kemeralti Bazaar, has two floors. In addition to games, the works of talented children who have received scores in competitions are also on display in the museum.

12. Science Museum

The Science Museum, which is the first of its kind in the Aegean Sea, is organized in such a way that people of all ages can learn by observing and experimenting with the principles and theories that form the foundations of science. The museum, which aims to teach the basic principles of science, discover technology, and show the effects of science and technology on our daily lives, especially to children between the ages of 12 and 15, has 60 teaching stations, nearly 100 experimental setups and about 15 interactive kiosks. The Science Museum is located in Karşıyaka, under the guidance of experts on the subject during the visit.

13. Ismet Inonu House

The house where Ismet Inonu, Atatürk’s comrade-in-arms, first prime minister and second president of the Republic of Turkey, was born in 1884, now serves as a museum. In the museum where Ismet İnönü’s belongings and clothes are displayed, special ceremonies are held on the anniversaries of İnönü’s birth (September 24) and death (December 25). The street of this house in Konak has been called “Inonu Street” by the municipality in recent years.

14. Ushakizade Latif Hanim Palace

Uşakizade Mansion is located in Göztepe and was built by Uşakizade Sadık Bey in 1860. The mansion, which consists of a total of 3 floors, including Bodrum, is very valuable in terms of morality in terms of the marriage of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha to Latife Hanım here in 29 January 1923. Marriage is also significant in terms of driving civil marriage today. However, Atatürk used the palace as the “Commander-in-Chief’s Residence” for a while in 1922. The Uşakizade Latife Hanım Palace, which became the property of the Private Turkish College in Izmir in 1979, can be visited as a museum since 2001.

We have come to the end of Izmir Museums content! However, if you are planning to visit Izmir, there are dozens of other amazing places to see. Here are just a few of them:

Where to visit in Izmir? 22 places you must see in Izmir, the pearl of the Aegean!