Guests rush to the Osman Hamdi Bey Museum

KOCAELİ - Anadolu Agency

The museum displays Osman Hamdi Bey’s belongings and paintings. AA photo

The Osman Hamdi Bey Museum in the Gebze district of Kocaeli has attracted 18,000 guests in the first half of the year.

The manor house that Osman Hamdi Bey lived in for 26 years in Gebze has been renovated and turned into a museum in which many of his personal belongings and paintings are exhibited.

“We are trying to create a perception of culture and industry together,” said the department head of the Ministry of Culture and Social Studies in Kocaeli, Ali Yeşildal.

Yeşildal stated that Osman Hamdi was one of the important artists of Turkey, so the heritage he left needs to be protected. His manor house in Gebze was previously in ruins, but has been renovated with this aim. “People are now paying great attention to the museum, which is open for guests seven days a week. Last year there were 25,000 people and in the first half of this year there have been 18,000 people visiting the museum,” he said, adding that creating this kind of a museum will be “advantageous” for the cultural life of the town.

Yeşildal also said the constructions of the city museum in the Seka area were still continuing. “We are going to build the biggest paper museum in Europe, within the scope of the urban transformation project. The renovation of the Seka Paper Factory is over and the organization of it will be completed by the new year,” he said.

Most of the machines from the old factory are still working, and there are also paper machines that work by man force. An “active” part in the museum will also be included, where children will learn how the produce paper.

“When the projects are over, besides being a town of industry, Kocaeli will became a culture, arts and tourism town. We are aiming to create a city where industry and culture are found together,” said Yeşildal.