The Konya Ethnography Museum in Konya displays textiles and jewellery, metalwork and kitchenware, prayer beads, Ottoman calligraphy and firearms.
The textiles include women's clothing in velvet, satin and atlas silk — bindallı gowns, dresses, şalvar with işlik and cepken jackets, waistcoats and kaftans — worked in metal-thread embroidery, cord appliqué and various frame-embroidery techniques. With them are silver and nickel-alloy belt buckles, pendants, bracelets, earrings and headpieces; knitted and woven purses for money, watches and seals; woollen socks and gloves; and bundles, towels, sashes, pillow and bedding sets embroidered in a range of named Turkish techniques.
The metalwork runs from Seljuk and Ottoman keys and locks of various sizes to kitchen vessels: beaten copper and brass cauldrons, pots, bowls, trays, ewers and healing cups, with glass and porcelain alongside. There are silver and brass candlesticks and censers, and coffee sets made up of wooden and metal grinders, roasting pans, mortars, caddies, cups and cup holders.
Two more groups stand out. One is a prayer-bead collection in coconut, amber, agate, jet, mother-of-pearl and ivory, shown with pipe mouthpieces, bowls, cases and tobacco pouches. The other is Ottoman calligraphy: Qur'ans and other manuscripts, and the tools of the craft — burnishers, inkwells, paper scissors, penknives and cutting rests, writing chests, mother-of-pearl inlaid lecterns, consoles and mirrors. Ottoman firearms with flintlock and percussion mechanisms, powder flasks and edged weapons complete the display.
Getting there
- Access
- The museum is close to the Atatürk monument in the city centre; the archaeological and ethnographic museums stand very near each other.
When to go
- Climate
- Across Konya as a whole, monthly mean temperatures run from -0.1 °C in January to 23.6 °C in July; the mean stays between 15 and 25 °C in May, June, July, August and September; rainfall is heaviest in May (43 mm) and lightest in August (6 mm). Long-term means for 1927-2025 from the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM).
