HASAN SÜZER ETHNOGRAPHY MUSEUM
The building which is located at Hanifoğlu Street of Bey
ward of Gaziantep was built in the early years of this century.
After several changes in ownership, it was purchased by
the businessman Hasan Süzen in 1985 in an extremely poor
state and was denoted to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism
after it was restored on the condition that it would be
used as "Hasan Süzen Ethnography Museum".
The building is composed of three floors above a cellar
which is carved into the bed rock, and has three entrances
with two of them opening to the main road, and the third
having access to a side road. From the ornamented large
door on the front facade, one enters the central courtyard
called "hayat" while the small door leads to the "selamlık"
section (men's quarter). On the southwest corner of the
court, there is a seperate two storey building with a sitting
room upstairs and hearth and toilet on the ground floor.
This section was used by the servants of the household.
Court is paved with colored stones, displaying a fine craftsmanship.
Basement floors consist of two interconnected spaces with
an approximately 2 meter difference in elevation between
the two. The basement which is completely carved into the
bed rock and which resembles a cave, holds jars for storing
olive oil and grape syrup (pekmez), sections for soring
food and a well. There is also a big loom in this section.
On the ground floor there is the kitchen which is called
the "hearth room", the bath and the fire places which heat
the bath and this section of the house, and stairs which
reach the first floor from two sides. The bath has all the
typical features of a Turkish bath and is heated with steam
coming from the stokehole (Külhan) and passing from the
floor level. The room to the right of entrance is the "tandır
room".Tandır is a sunk stone fire place. A stool is placed
over it and a large quilt is layed over the stool creating
a local heating system. There is a fountain in the hallway
of the first floor which stands out with its stone workmanship
and colored decorations and three seperate rooms looking
on to the court. One of the rooms is arranged as bride inspection
room, the second as a work room where daily life is pursued
while the third room is the "selamlık" part where male guests
are received.
Two of the rooms on second floor are designed as the harem
section reserved for the lady of the house. There is a glassed
in room on the third floor which functions as the passageway
to the terrace and the "dove house". This section is a quite
corner where one can rest after the tiring tasks of the
day. The different spaces of the building are decorated
with local furniture and other items according to their
functions regarding the daily life and the exhibition is
brought to life with realistic mannequins.
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