Historic stoves from around the world drawing visitors in Antalya

ANTALYA - Anadolu Agency

Antalya’s Stove Museum is the first and only of its kind in Turkey. It also displays poems related to stoves written by famous Turkish poets. AA photo

Showing that there’s more to Antalya than the beach, a stove museum in the southern province is continuing to draw visitors to its exhibits of heating devices from Turkey and around the world.

Antalya Metropolitan Municipality official Adem Akyürek said people of all age groups enjoyed visiting the museum. “The stove was a communication tool; a tool that helps the improvement of domestic communication and the survival of traditions. We used to cook chestnuts on it when were children. We are trying to keep alive our old traditions here in the museum,” he said.

The museum, the first and only of its kind in Turkey, was opened on Feb. 11 in the Sobacılar Bazaar by the Antalya Metropolitan Municipality under the consultancy of the founder of the Istanbul Toy Museum, Sunay Akın.

So far, around 17,000 people have visited the location, according to municipal officials.

The museum brings together stoves and literature, said Akyürek, noting that the museum displays poems related to stoves written by famous Turkish poets like Nazım Hikmet, Mevlana, Yaşar Kemal and Cahit Külebi.

The museum was designed by Hasan Ayhan Doğan and its literary work was produced by Ahmet Çağan. Thirty-five stoves from Turkey and the rest of the world are displayed in the five-story museum building, including the first local stove produced in 1924 by Şakir Zümre.

“While the first four floors of the museum display stoves featuring different eras in the world and Anatolia, the top floor displays toy stoves,” Akyürek said.

Akyürek said the opening of the Stove Museum had been crucial in helping make Antalya a capital of arts and culture.

“We want to create visit and cultural points in the city. The Stove Museum is one of these projects,” he said. “Our goal is to present the public our cultural accumulation and appeal to tourists. Foreigners who visit the city for cultural purposes definitely visit the museum. We want people to spend their social life in museums instead of shopping malls. This is the new trend in the world. We are waiting for more international tourists at the museum.”

Akyürek said it was largely domestic tourists and students who were visiting the museum, adding that some local school teachers had discussed the history of fire with their pupils while visiting the museum. The museum is expected to soon acquire new stoves for its collection from various countries.