Ankara Museum of Foundations (Vakıf Eserleri Müzesi)

Construction of the building began under the Evkaf Administration with the intention of serving as a primary school, and it was completed in 1928. Upon the order of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the building was allocated in 1929 to the newly established Ankara School of Law and Justice.

After 1941, the structure served various functions, including the Ankara Girls’ Art School, a student dormitory, and later the Ankara Mufti’s Office. It continued to be used by the Mufti’s Office until 2004. In April 2004, the building was vacated and restored by the General Directorate of Foundations for museum purposes. It officially opened as the Ankara Museum of Foundations on 7 May 2007.

The museum building is an example of the First National Architectural Movement. Its façades are notably simple, without traditional decorative or architectural elements. The architect of the building is unknown.

Inside the Ankara Museum of Foundations, visitors can see artifacts that had been preserved for many years in the storage collections of the General Directorate of Foundations and gathered from different regions across Türkiye. These include:

• Carpets and kilims
• Candlesticks
• Coin purses
• Manuscript Qur’ans
• Imperial foundation charters (vakfiyes)
• Clocks
• Calligraphic panels
• Tiles
• Metalwork
• Manuscripts

Among the most valuable pieces on display are:

• 13th-century wooden window shutters and sermon pulpits from Ahi Evran Mosque
• The door panels and wooden carvings of Divriği Great Mosque (Ulu Camii)

Some artifacts that had previously been smuggled abroad were later recovered and are now exhibited in the museum.