Nine centuries of history have accumulated enough priceless artefacts in the surroundings of Ankara and the city itself that they are displayed in the beautiful collection of exhibits of the Ethnographic Museum. The museum building is easily recognisable by its white marble walls and the statue at the entrance, which depicts Ataturk, as the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal, is popularly known. The Ankara Ethnographic Museum has collections characterising the culture and life of the population: Muslim carpets, national clothes, various fabrics, folk musical instruments, textile and faience products. Here even the museum building itself is considered a separate and very valuable exhibit.
The building is located on Namazga Hill, on the territory of the Muslim cemetery. For the purpose of opening the museum, this hill was donated to the Ministry of National Education by a decree of the Turkish Cabinet of Ministers in November 1925.
The Ethnographic Museum was designed by architect A. H. Koyunoglu, who is one of the most famous architects of the early Republican period. In order to collect and purchase artefacts for the museum, a special commission was established in Istanbul, headed by Professor Celal Esada in 1924 and Halil Ethemem, head of the Istanbul Museums, in 1925. The selection of the exhibits was not finalised until 1927, at which time there were already more than a thousand of them. In the same year, the director of the museum was also appointed. But the grand opening of the Museum of Ethnography took place only on 18 July 1930, on the occasion of the arrival of the Afghan king. Two years before that, the museum was visited by Mustafa Kemal, the head of the Turkish Republic.
In November 1938, the courtyard of the Ethnographic Museum became a temporary mausoleum of the Turkish reformer, whose body remained here until 1953, when the Ataturk Mausoleum was completed. Currently, this part of the museum houses a white marble slab that bears the date of the death of Father Turk and the period when his body was in the museum. The Ethnographic Museum served as a mausoleum for 15 years. Official delegations from various countries visited here. During this time it was visited by presidents, ambassadors, foreign delegations as well as ordinary citizens. Between 1953 and 1956, the building was renovated and restored, and the museum collection was prepared for the International Museum Week, which took place from 6 to 14 November 1956.
The building is rectangular in shape and its roof is decorated with a single dome. The stone walls of the museum are covered with rough sandstone and marble, and the panelled gable has carved decorations. A staircase of twenty-eight steps adjoins the museum. The entrance to the building consists of three parts, divided by four columns with arches. The main entrance leads to a hall under a dome and a courtyard decorated with a colonnade.
Originally, there was a marble pool in the centre of the courtyard and the roof of the building was open. However, after the museum was used as a temporary mausoleum for Atatürk, the roof was closed off and the pool had to be moved into the garden. The large and small halls of the building symmetrically surround the courtyard. A two-storey administrative complex is located next to the museum.
At the request of the Ministry of Public Education in 1927, an Italian artist made a bronze statue of Mustafa Kemal, which now stands in front of the museum. The exhibition of the ethnographic museum is a collection of examples of Turkish art from the Seljuk period to the present day.
To the right of the entrance to the museum is a hall dedicated to Anatolian wedding ceremonies, where wedding dresses from various cities in Anatolia and various wedding paraphernalia are on display. In the next hall you can see the patterns and techniques of the famous Turkish embroidery. Then there is a section that introduces the visitors of the Ethnographic Museum to the craft of hand weaving Turkish carpets and rugs. Visiting the next room you can get acquainted with Anatolian coffee making culture. There is also a section dedicated to the circumcision ceremony.
To the left of the entrance is the section of Turkish tile and glassware, earthenware and ceramics. Next is the hall whose exhibits were donated by Besim Atalay. Other sections introduce visitors to the art of Ottoman calligraphy, the best wooden artefacts from Seljuk times and the period of princely rule.
