Bilecik Söğüt Ertuğrul Gazi Museum

HISTORY OF SÖĞÜT MUSEUM

A committee was established in 1973 to collect the artifacts of Söğüt, Bilecik and the villages of Nomads in Eskişehir. The artifacts were first taken under protection in the warehouse of Eskişehir Archeology Museum and after the construction of the museum, the works were brought to Söğüt and placed in the showcases.

Söğüt Museum, which was built between 1975 and 1977 and opened in September 12, 1981, was established in front of Ertuğrul Gazi Tomb in the building, which is currently used as Halime Hatun Masjid. The artifacts found here were collected before the museum was opened. A rich collection has emerged with the artfactsfrom  the excavations made by the directorate of the museum, and both as a donation  and collected through purchase from  citizens.

In the following years, the registered building, which was used as winding House and Tobacco building until 1980s and owned by Söğüt municipality, was allocated to the Ministry of culture and tourism for 49 years in 1986 to be used as a museum. In 2001, the museum was opened to visitors in its current building.

The majority of the artifacts consist of clothing, patterns, woven carpets, rugs and scales, guns, weighing instruments and ethnographic objects used in daily life, reflecting the culture of Söğüt and Bilecik circles.

 HISTORY OF THE MUSEUM BUILDING

Although the first construction date of the building is not known, it was built by Memiş Ağa as a winding house in the beginning of the 20th century. It is estimated to serve as a health center or dispensary on time. In later periods, it was used as a tobacco building.

The building is one of the rare structures in the War of Independence that was saved from the fire and destruction due to the occupation of Söğüt by the Greeks twice.

The building, which shows itself with the use of woodwork and the correct and good use of the material, is the civil architecture sample with the decision A-907 dated to 13.08. 1978 and the protection group was designated as II-A-2.

The building was evacuated in the 1980s due to danger and was completely annihilated by a fire on 27 August 1990. The building was rebuilt by the İstanbul Directorate of Surveying and Monuments between 1995-2001 according to the restoration project prepared by using the documents, surveys, photographs and foundation remains. And the museum was opened on 08.09.2001 by the Minister of Culture Istemihan TALAY.

The Museum Directorate building was built in three floors in accordance with its original structure. The top floor is planned as a single hall and this floor is used as a museum exhibition hall.