Trabzon Museum in Turkey

Trabzon Museum occupies Kostaki Mansion, an early 20th-century residence in central Trabzon that is as much a part of the museum experience as the objects displayed inside it. The museum combines archaeological material from the region, ethnographic collections, preserved mansion interiors, and rooms connected with episodes in the building’s later history.

Kostaki Mansion

The mansion was built between approximately 1898 and 1913 for banker Kostaki Teophylaktos. The Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism records that its architectural design was Italian and that many of the materials used in the building were brought from Italy.

Its exterior stonework is only one part of the original architectural character. Except for the basement, the interior walls contain extensive painted decoration known in Turkish as kalem işi. Some rooms on the entrance floor also retain original silk wall coverings. The Ministry records an interior usable area of approximately 1,500 square metres.

Kostaki Teophylaktos went bankrupt in 1917, after which the property was placed under seizure and acquired by the Nemlioğlu family. The building later served several functions unrelated to its original use as a private residence.

During Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s first visit to Trabzon, he, Latife Hanım, and members of their party stayed in the mansion from 15 to 17 September 1924. The property was subsequently expropriated by the state. It served as a government building from 1927 to 1931 and as the General Inspectorate building from 1931 to 1937.

In 1937 the mansion was assigned to the Ministry of National Education and became a girls’ vocational school. It remained in educational use for about 50 years before being transferred to the Ministry of Culture in 1987 for conversion into a museum.

Archaeological Collection

The basement houses the archaeological section. Its displays cover a long chronological range, beginning with the Early Bronze Age and continuing through the end of the Ottoman period. Objects include stone, terracotta, metal, and glass artifacts as well as coins and other archaeological material.

One of the museum’s best-known archaeological objects is a Roman bronze statue of Hermes. It was recovered during a rescue excavation conducted by Trabzon Museum Directorate in the Tabakhane area of Trabzon in 1997 and is dated to the second century AD.

Other displays documented by the museum include an Assyrian cylinder seal; artifacts from the Bronze Age, Urartian, Iron Age, Hellenistic, and Roman periods; Roman coins; Byzantine coins and icons; and objects from the Ottoman period. Hellenistic and Roman displays include bronzes, terracotta pieces, and glassware.

The Mansion Rooms and Interior Decoration

The entrance floor is presented as a mansion interior rather than as a conventional archaeological gallery. The painted decoration is particularly dense on this level, allowing the building’s surviving interior design to form part of the display.

Rooms documented in this section include a sitting room, study, daytime sitting room, dining room, and games room. A larger hall once used for entertainment and musical gatherings contains a gallery or box area with pronounced Baroque decorative features.

This arrangement gives the building two roles at the same time: it provides space for museum collections while also preserving elements of the residence itself. Original decorative surfaces and surviving room arrangements therefore carry information that display cases alone cannot provide.

Ethnographic Displays

The first floor contains the museum’s ethnographic section. The Ministry’s museum inventory describes displays of Islamic works, historical arms, manuscripts, textiles, jewelry, and clothing. These collections document different aspects of material culture rather than a single period.

The same floor includes a section associated with Cevdet Sunay, Turkey’s fifth president, who was born in Trabzon Province. Another room preserves the bedroom connected with Atatürk’s 1924 stay at the mansion. The bedroom furniture was acquired from the Nemlioğlu family for exhibition in the museum.

From Mansion to Museum

After its transfer to the Ministry of Culture, the mansion underwent a long restoration before opening as Trabzon Museum on 22 April 2001. The building later entered another extended restoration period that included structural repair, exhibition work, and improvements to its surroundings.

Official visitor schedules resumed from 30 May 2025, returning Kostaki Mansion to public museum use. The museum has remained active since the restoration; for example, Trabzon Museum Directorate held a museum discussion program in December 2025 focused on archaeological excavations, the city’s historic buildings, and finds from excavations around Trabzon Castle.

Visiting in 2026

For the 2026 tourism season, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism set the museum’s visiting hours at 09:00–18:00 between 1 April and 1 October 2026. The official museum listing identifies Monday as the weekly closing day.

The current Ministry admission list states that MuseumKart is accepted for Turkish citizens and lists the museum’s entrance fee as €3. Because opening hours and admission arrangements can change between seasons, visitors planning a later trip should check the official museum page before arrival.