For the first time, around thirty museums and buildings are open to the public this weekend in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, for the European Heritage Days, and in particular the French Embassy, for which the visiting slots have been snatched up on the Internet, as the deputy director of the French Institute explains.
This is the second year that the French embassy in Ankara is open to the public, for European Heritage Days, as demonstrated by Sophie Gauthier-Aydoğdu, deputy director of the French Institute of Ankara, housed within the ‘French Embassy.
:quality(50)/2023/09/15/20230908-214406-1-6504132bc0bf2184602046.jpg)
“What is interesting, she explains, is that the embassy already follows Turkish history. Our embassy, originally, under the Ottoman Empire, was established in Istanbul, and with the birth of the Republic of Turkey, 100 years ago, it arrived in Ankara, and the embassy we know today today, was only inaugurated in 1937. And then you have a quite spacious garden which pays homage to this part of Ankara which previously was old vineyards.”
:quality(50)/2023/09/12/whatsapp-image-2023-09-08-at-15-24-22-1-65003bcd8cd21806414016.jpeg)
Online reservations for the guided tours were completed in just half an hour. It was a success with quotas filled three or four times, following the opening of registrations. The visits are each time in small groups of around fifteen people.
:quality(50)/2023/09/15/20230908-214309-650410cf09a79831462320.jpg)
“We bring the public from the square, into the entrance hall, then into each of the three reception rooms, the protocol areas, and we explain to them the history of the building, the furniture, the way in which we receive also the people at the embassy, including the large dining room, and then we go to the gardens for the guided tour of the exhibition.”
In the gardens of the embassy where an original installation by the Turkish artist Mehmet Ali Uysal, now based in France, awaits visitors, a way of celebrating the artistic heritage of the city, within its historical heritage.
:quality(50)/2023/09/12/me-65003a90a283b088643955.jpg)
A long history between France and Turkey
In total, around thirty places, including several museums and seven foreign embassies, are opening their doors to the public this weekend in Turkey for the European Heritage Days.
In Istanbul, the Palais de France, the former French embassy under the Ottoman Empire, as well as the French Institute of Anatolian Studies, are also organizing open days this weekend as part of the European Heritage Days. France has a long history with Turkey.
:quality(50)/2023/09/15/20230908-214424-6504114c12666322481755.jpg)
“We have a very good network of bilingual establishments in Istanbul, opened in the 19th century by congregations. We still have a high school, in Galatasaray, which is the high school of the Turkish elite, which teaches in French. A university has was opened in 1992. We offer French courses, and students want to learn it, both for the culture, but also for the prospects of internships abroad, which we offer.”
:quality(50)/2023/09/12/whatsapp-image-2023-09-08-at-15-24-21-1-65003d9111e85261786255.jpeg)
Free concerts are also offered, and several routes to discover the city. The event also wants to highlight Ankara, on the heritage map in Turkey, while it is often Istanbul which arrives first.
:quality(50)/2023/09/15/20230908-214336-6504120569e56109340409.jpg)
“Ankara is often unfavorably compared, compared to Istanbul, we have the Bosphorus, the history compared to Izmir, which is open on the Aegean coast. Ankara firstly has an important history with the Silk Roads.
Walk around the city, go to the museums in a slightly different way, listen to an Armenian music concert, in a church that you may not even know exists, and you will see that Ankara has a lot of things to be revealed.”
2023 is also a special year in Turkey, since it marks both the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey, and also the centenary of the city of Ankara.
:quality(50)/2023/09/12/whatsapp-image-2023-09-08-at-15-24-21-65003ca3d1afc412164733.jpeg)
Go further
The French Institute of Ankara in Türkiye
The French Institute’s Instagram account dedicated to European Heritage Days
Find this column on the site, the app and in the international mobility magazine “Français à l’enseignement.fr”