Built 120 years ago, the Hamidiya School Museum attracts tourists in Turkey | Mix

The Hamidiya School of Industry was established in Sivas by the Ottoman governor Rashid Akef Pasha in 1902, during the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, to provide vocational rehabilitation services for children aged 5-13 years, especially orphans.

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The Museum of the Hamidiya School of Industry, whose construction dates back to the era of the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II, attracts tourists and visitors, which reflects the growing interest in this historical edifice.

The Hamidiya School of Industry was established in Sivas by the Wali Rashid Akef Pasha in 1902, during the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, to provide vocational rehabilitation services for children aged 5 to 13, especially orphans.

After the school provided vocational education services for children for 59 years, it was converted into a prison in 1961, and 58 years were used for this purpose.

Support Centers of Attraction

As part of the “Support Centers of Attraction” program launched by the Turkish Ministry of Industry and Technology, in 2019 the state of Sivas restored the building while preserving its original architecture, and opened it in July 2021 to visitors after converting it into a museum.

The Director of Culture and Museums at Sivas, Fatih Mehmet Tanri Weren, said that industrial schools were established in the Ottoman Empire to meet the increasing need for skilled labor with the industrial transformation that the country witnessed in its last years.

Al-Hamidiyah School was built to provide vocational rehabilitation services for children, especially orphans (Anatolia)

“These schools contributed to laying the first building block and foundations for the vocational secondary schools that were established during the republican era,” Tanri Wern added to Anadolu Agency.

He continued, “The industrial schools that were established during the Ottoman era succeeded in rehabilitating Muslim and other children professionally, providing vocational education for a period of 4 years, as well as residency services.”

He explained that the industrial schools in general were transformed into technical schools in 1939, while the Hamidiya School of Industry in Sivas provided vocational education services for children for 59 years, before the Ministry of Justice turned it into a prison in 1961.

Converting the building into a women’s prison in 1961 (Anatolia)

From prison to museum

The Director of Culture and Museums at Sivas stated that the Hamidiya School of Industry building, which was used as a prison, was converted into a museum in 2021 after the building underwent restoration work in 2019.

And he added, “The building (museum) consists of 3 separate rooms on the upper floor. The first contains sculptures and models of educational aids that were used in the school during the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II.”

A room in the museum dedicated to exhibits related to the women’s prison (Anatolia)

He added, “The second room, which was used as a dormitory for women in the prison, contains exhibits related to the women’s prison. The third contains exhibits that reflect the cultural values ​​of Sivas.”

Tannery Wern pointed out that in other parts the museum organizes courses for the handicrafts for which Sivas is famous, and has a canteen, a lobby and a conference room for 50 people in the basement.

Sivas renovated the building in 2019 while preserving its original architecture (Anatolia)

Nostalgia for the past

The Director of Culture and Museums at Sivas pointed out that more than 25,000 people visited the Museum of the Hamidiya School of Industry in 6 months, stressing that the number is expected to increase by three times in 2022.

For his part, Ismail Yildiz, one of the visitors who came to the city of Sivas from the state of Şanlıurfa (south), said that he loved the museum very much and enjoyed viewing its holdings.

A room containing exhibits reflecting the cultural values ​​of Sivas (Anatolia)

And he added, “Seeing the museum’s holdings made me feel nostalgic, in addition to being able to obtain valuable information about the history of the building and the experience of industrial schools in the Ottoman and Republican eras.”