Key bastion to serve as battlefield museum

EDİRNE

A former bastion located in Turkey’s northwestern border will now serve as a history museum dedicated to give an opportunity to visitors to witness how battlefields are like.

Standing out as one of the most significant military areas of the Thrace defensive line during the Balkan Wars in the early 1900s, the Hıdırlık Bastion has been re-inaugurated as the Edirne Balkan History Museum with the participation of officials and locals following comprehensive restoration efforts.

Twenty-two headquarter rooms, 18 artillery rooms, four cave shelters and a 120-meter tunnel has been set up in the museum that aims to shed light on the glorious past of fighting wars in the area and inform visitors about the regional history during the different years with the help of digital applications.

Having also a sound infrastructure enabling the reenacting of battles in its history, in addition to exhibitions on Edirne’s role as the second Ottoman capital, the museum will also feature 600 years of history of the Turks in the Balkans, from the conquest of Edirne in 1361 to the aftermath of the Balkan Wars.

Having contributed greatly to the defense of the city for 155 days in 1913 under the command of Şükrü Pasha, the bastion and the site around it are expected to serve as the largest battlefield complex in the region after Gallipoli National Park, which sheds light on the bloody struggles led in the the Battle of Çanakkale during the World War I.