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I visited three different museums on my trip to Kütahya. They’re all located near each other at the end of Republic Street.
Kütahya Archaeology Museum
Right next to the Great Mosque (Ulu Camii) is the small but interesting Kütahya Archaeology Museum (Kütahya Arkeoloji Müzesi), with some finds from nearby sites such as Aizanoi. It’s housed in the former Vacidiye Madrasa (Vacidiye Medresesi), a former religious school built in 1314 in the Seljuk style. The museum is open daily. Admission is 60₺ (as of February 2024).
Tile Museum
Another good museum next to the Great Mosque is the Tile Museum (Çini Müzesi). It’s hosted in a former mosque, the Imaret Mosque (İmaret Camii), built in 1411. Admission is free (as of February 2024) and it’s open daily except Mondays.
At the entrance is an original door from the Great Mosque, and just inside is the tomb of Yakub Çelebi (d. 1409), who was part of the ruling Germiyan family. The Germiyans ruled a large area of Anatolia after the collapse of the Seljuk Empire, and Kütahya was their capital.
The museum has some priceless tile work and pottery, including original tiles from Topkapi Palace in Istanbul.
I was mostly impressed by the quality of work on some of the decorative plates on display.
There’s also a room set up as a typical local home, with tiles hanging on the walls and decorative pottery.
Lajos Kossuth House
A walk up Gediz Street (Gediz Caddesi) from the Tile Museum will take you past some authentic Ottoman homes to the Lajos Kossuth House. One that stuck out is a small home completely covered in Kütahya tiles.
The Lajos Kossuth House was used by Hungarian revolutionary Lajos Kossuth (1802-1894), who lived there from 1850-51. Kossuth staged an uprising against the Habsburgs in Hungary in 1849 and was forced to flee as a fugitive. The house is open daily except Mondays and admission is free (as of February 2024).
The museum tells the story of Kossuth and the Hungarian struggle for independence. Outside in the garden is a monument to Kossuth, and at the entrance to the house is a bust.
The rooms of the house are set up as an ethnographic museum. Clothing, furniture, and artifacts that would have been used by Hungarian elite living in the city are on display, as well as typical items used in Ottoman homes of the period.
Kütahya Mansion
A short walk from the Lajos Kossuth House is the Kütahya Mansion (Kütahya Konağı), a restored Ottoman home that now serves as a restaurant serving traditional homemade Turkish food.
