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Suna - Inan Kirac Kaleici Museum
The entrance to the museum, which is within two buildings, consisted of one house and one church, is provided by the large door which has a bay window front in Kocatepe Street. The house which was built in the 19th century reflects a typical example of the traditional Old City house, and was restored between 1993 and 1995 to give the appearance of the original. Entering the housing, we pass into the “stony place” an indispensable part of Antalya houses an area covered in stone pebble mosaics. There are service rooms on either side of the entrance, this part serves as the transition area from where, via the wooden staircase one reaches the upper floor from the patio. This 19th century building today serves as an ethnographic museum that provides thematic sections illuminating the former life in Kaleiçi. The upstairs rooms serve to illustrate the taking of "coffee" and the "shaving of the groom" and the "henna" rooms and in addition, items of traditional Anatolian Turkish folk culture, such as old photographs which are displayed for the visitors to Antalya. The layout, fittings, the wall and ceiling ornaments and the floor coverings, reflect the interior of a 19th century well to do residence environment. These three rooms portray the preparation for a wedding in traditional 19th c. dress, replicating in the figures and street environment that is played in the background, which takes the visitor back to that period. Today the museum is located within the garden and the other buildings, it stands with north and south entrances, the former Orthodox Church built in the name of Aya Yorgi (Hagios Georgios-Saint George). This structure is one of the monuments of cultural heritage of Kaleici. It is rectangular in plan, forming a single interior vaulted space. Above the southern main entrance is a marble panel depicting Aya Yorgi's fight on horseback with the dragon on horse and two angels. On the door an inscription in Karamanlica (Turkish written employing Greek letters) reads: "It was Hagios Georgios Church has long been standing and through the assistance of the Christians of Antalya it was restored. The Great Martyr St. George 1863," On the north wall; entered from the outside, via a spiral staircase one reaches the mezzanine level. The building's interior ceiling depicts heaven, with decoration in various shades of blue decorative paintwork. Organized as an exhibition space in the lower level of the church are displayed the Suna-Inan Kıraç collection of Canakkale Ceramics and other works. On the upper floor, are exhibited pictures and figurines of the street vendors of the past in Anatolia.