Rákóczi Museum, Tekirdağ
Rakoçi Müzesi | |
House museum | |
Visitors | 6,500, among them 3,500 Magyars (2007) |
---|---|
Director | Ali Kabul[1] |
Website | www.rakoczimuzesi.com |
The Rákóczi Museum (
History
Ferenc (Francis) II Rákóczi (1676–1735) was a Hungarian noble, the wealthiest landlord in the
His followers, among them essayist Kelemen Mikes and many aristocrats, settled also in neighbouring streets of his house, making up a large Hungarian colony in Tekirdağ.[6]
The remains of Rákóczi were transferred in 1906 from Istanbul to Kassa in Hungary (today Košice in Slovakia) together with his personal belongings from the house.[3][5]
Museum
The building is an 18th-century wooden house in typical Ottoman architectural style having ten rooms on three levels.[3][5] It is situated on a small hill[3] overlooking the Sea of Marmara.[6] Before the construction of the coastal highway (D.110 / E84) in modern times, the house was closer to the sea.[5]
The building was donated to the State of Hungary in the early 1980s, and was rebuilt after illustrations of the interior made by a Hungarian artist in 1906 as he travelled to Tekirdağ.[6] The items on display are reproductions made precisely after their originals.[3] Only a few items in the museum's inventory are original. The museum was officially opened to public on September 25, 1982.[1][7] The museum, regarded as a cultural bridge between Turkey and Hungary, was restored again by the Hungarian government and re-opened in 2010.[4]
There is a bronze bust of Rákóczi on the ground floor and of his chamberlain Kelemen Mikes at the basement. Oil painted portraits of Rákóczi's mother
In the first floor, porcelain and ceramic items from Hungary, a wallet made of silver thread belonging to Rákóczi's mother are on display. Watercolors by the Hungarian painter Aladár Edivi Illés (1870–1958) showing old Tekirdağ landscape hang on the walls at this floor.[3][5]
The finest room of the house is the reception room situated on the second floor.[3] It is designed after a room, the prince had seen during his stay in Edirne and had liked much. The wooden ceiling is carved with ornaments of flowers and fruits. The windows of the room are of stained glass. The walls are painted with Hungarian folk motifs. A wooden chair made and decoratively carved by Rákóczi himself can be seen also in this room. The office of Kelemen Mikes is also on this floor. He wrote his Letters from Turkey in this room. His work, a collection of letters written to a fictional aunt describing the daily life of Rákóczi in a lovely way, was translated into Turkish and published by the Governor of Tekirdağ.[5]
In the museum, a banner and examples of the weapons used by the kuruc army are on exhibit.[5]
In front of the house museum, a wooden gate carved in traditional Szekely style was erected in 2005.[6] Tekirdağ hosts also a fountain built in memorial of Rákóczi.[1]
In 2007, the Rákóczi Museum was visited by 6,500 people, 3,500 of them being Hungarians only.[1] It is open everyday except on Mondays.[5]
Replica of the house
There is a Rákóczi memorial house in Košice, Slovakia, which is a replica of the building in Tekirdağ.
References
- ^ a b c d e "Rakoczi Müzesi Tekirdağ'ı Macarlar'ın uğrak noktası yaptı". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 2008-09-06. Retrieved 2010-12-24.
- ^ "Tekirdağ". nüveforum.net. Retrieved 2010-12-24.
- ^ ISBN 9781742203867.
- ^ a b "Turkish, Hungarian culture ministers inaugurate museum in Tekirdag". Dünya Online. 2010-02-02. Retrieved 2010-12-24.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Serin, Ayten (2008-02-08). "Rakoczi Müzesi'ni geçen yıl 3500 Macar ziyaret etti". Hürriyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 2011-01-06.
- ^ a b c d "Tekirdağ Sights". iGuide Interactive Travel Guide. Retrieved 2010-12-24.
- ^ "Rakoczi Müzesi" (in Turkish). Tekirdağ İl Kültür ve Turizm Müdürlüğü. Retrieved 2011-01-06.