Ulumay Museum of Ottoman Folk Costumes & Jewellery

Uluumay Foundation Ottoman Folk Costumes and Jewellery Collection consists of 18 different collections gathered by collector, folk scientist and folklore researcher Esat Uluumay.

The collection, located in the poet Ahmet Pasha Madrasa within the buffer zone of the Muradiye Complex, which is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, was opened to visitors on 18 September 2004. The collection exhibits, assembled by Esat Ulumay, a founding member of the Anatolian Folklore Foundation, through his own research and efforts over 50 years, original folk costumes from the entire Ottoman geography ranging from the Caucasus to Hungary and from Iraq to Yemen, silver folk jewellery, coffee culture, Turkish bath, horse riding and harness sets, musical instruments and rare examples of folk arts.

History

After the poet Ahmet Pasha Madrasa was handed over to Uluumay in 1999 by a protocol prepared by the Bursa Governorship following a Council of Ministers decision; restoration works funded by the Bursa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BTSO) were completed and the site was opened as a permanent exhibition in 2004. Esat Uluumay also opened, together with Professor Nurhan Atasoy in 2010, a gallery displaying a collection of clothing of religious leaders from different heavenly religions within the Ottoman geography. To preserve, promote and develop the largest collection gathered on Ottoman folk costumes, jewellery and life objects, the Uluumay Foundation was established by Esat Uluumay in 2013. Since 2018, the chairman of the foundation's board of directors is Feyza Uluumay Gökalp.