The Selimiye Vakıf Müzesi occupies the Dar'ül Kurra Medresesi, the school at the south-west corner of the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, built together with the mosque for Selim II by Mimar Sinan between 1569 and 1575. From its construction until fairly recent times it served the Ottoman state as an institution of higher learning. After standing empty and neglected for years, it was restored in 2007 and rearranged as a museum.
A monumental gateway leads into the school, built of dressed stone and brick. A portico of pointed arches surrounds the rectangular courtyard on all four sides; behind it, the large domed square room on the east served as classroom and prayer room, and the rooms on the south and west housed teachers and students. Those small rooms now hold the collection, which comes mostly from vakıf buildings in Edirne, Kırklareli and the surrounding area.
The objects, called teberrükat, are grouped by material. The metalwork room shows candlesticks, finials, rosewater sprinklers, braziers and door knockers; the tile room has polychrome glazed tiles from Şah Melek Paşa Camisi and underglaze tiles from the Selimiye and Muradiye mosques; the clock room holds antique clocks and astrolabes once used to find the positions of the stars; the woodwork room has lecterns, prayer beads, turban stands, Kur'an boxes and manuscript copies of the Kur'an; and the calligraphy room shows writing samples, imperial warrants, hilyes and calligraphers' diplomas. In the old classroom mannequins re-enact a lesson of the period, and large panels in the portico tell the story of Mimar Sinan.
The museum belongs to the Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüğü and has private museum status.
When to go
- Climate
- Across Edirne as a whole, monthly mean temperatures run from 2.8 °C in January to 24.8 °C in July; the mean stays between 15 and 25 °C in May, June, July, August and September; rainfall is heaviest in December (71 mm) and lightest in August (23 mm). Long-term means for 1930-2025 from the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM).
