Edirne’s Health Museum on UNESCO list

After the declaration of the list, Trakya University Rector Prof. Erhan Tabakoğlu organized a press conference with Cultural Preservation Specialist Yaşagül Ekinci Danışan, Health Museum Director Hakan Akıncı and retired lecturer Ratıp Kazancıgil, who was the architect behind the establishment of the social complex.

Stating that they were very happy about being on the UNESCO World Heritage Temporary List, Tabakoğlu added, “In 1974 Kazancıgil found a ruin in here. With a dedicated struggle he turned this place into a university, then a museum. When people were burnt in Europe with the excuse of being possessed, our ancestors were treating mental illnesses with music and scents in this facility.”

Visitors of the Health Museum can see aesthetic surgeries for men, female surgeons conducting hernia operations for Janissaries and the journey of Turkish smallpox vaccine from Edirne to Europe in the 18th century. Unearthing a five-century-old medical history, the museum hosted 235,000 visitors last year.