Woman turns hayloft into local cultural center

KARS

A mother of one in the eastern province of Kars has converted the hayloft of her house into a cultural center, exhibiting traditional objects of the region.

The 39-year-old Ebru Akbaba Demir is waiting for all the local tourists who come to the province after a train ride with the Orient Express to visit the “cultural hayloft.”

“My parents have been collecting things symbolizing the region’s traditions for two decades. One day, I said, ‘Why do we keep it for ourselves? Let’s show them to people’ and so we formed this center,” Demir said.

Around 150 objects, including old TVs, swords, daggers, radios, gramophones, rugs, are exhibited in the center.

“Visitors who come to the cultural center will travel in time and taste the local food,” she added.

Her mother, Leyle Akbaba, is thankful to her daughter. “We used to collect objects as hobby, but she wanted all these to be opened to tourism,” she noted and added: “We are waiting for everyone coming to Kars.”