Yörük Ali Efe Museum

Yörük Ali Efe Museum is a museum located in the district of Yenipazar, Aydın, which has been open to the public since 2001. In the garden of the museum, which was established to keep the regional hero Yörük Ali Efe alive, there is the grave and the statue of Yörük Ali Efe.

Creation of the museum

The house belonging to Yörük Ali Efe, located on Yörük Ali Efe Street in the district of Yenipazar, Aydın Province, and estimated to have been built at the end of the 19th century, was completely burned in a fire that broke out in the 1980s; after the fire, the building and its garden were left to their fate.

In 1995, the Aydın Provincial Culture Director Özgen Karaca, heading the Aydın Governorship Culture Commission, proposed that the house of Yörük Ali Efe, the leader of armed resistance against occupying forces in the National Struggle in Aydın, be restored and revived as a Museum House and transferred to future generations. This proposal was also submitted by the Aydın Governorship to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

On behalf of the heirs of Yörük Ali Efe, Kayhan Kavas was promised that the property would be donated to the Ministry of Culture if the project were realized; in 1997 a protocol was signed between the Ministry of Culture and the heirs concerning the use of the house as a museum. The allocation procedures of the property to the Ministry of Culture were carried out in 1999. The İzmir Survey and Monuments Directorate prepared the survey, redesign, and renovation projects, and the registration decision for the property; these projects were approved by the İzmir 2 No. Cultural and Natural Heritage Protection Board. According to the unit prices of 1999, approximately 94 billion TL for the first discovery-fee restoration work was ordered by the Ministry to be carried out with the revenues from the archaeological sites of Aydın Province, and on 13.12.1999 it was tendered for 1999–2000 by the Aydın Governorship Permanent Provincial Committee. Meanwhile, the parcel numbered 7, which had been separated from the Yörük Ali Efe House as a whole, was expropriated and included in the garden; subsequently, the later-built building and annexes were demolished and the garden was restored to its original historic condition.

In this work, the entire building and garden, which were in a ruined state, were cleared. Afterwards, the building was reconstructed in accordance with a renovation project and restoration principles prepared from the foundation to match the original. In the garden, a second structure containing a ticket office, guard room, and restrooms for visitors was built, and the shelter was repaired. The ancillary building known as the old almond house was also repaired and converted into a coffee house to serve visitors. The garden walls, partially demolished, were repaired, rebuilt, and the garden layout was completed. The grave of the late Yörük Ali Efe, located in the Yenipazar cemetery, was transferred to the Museum Garden by the Council of Ministers' decision dated 29.08.2000, number 2000/1252.

After the completion of the house's restoration work, descendants were called upon to contribute to the collection of Yörük Ali Efe's personal belongings; the items were compiled by the Aydın Museum Object Valuation Committee, and cataloguing and furnishing work was carried out. The statue of Yörük Ali Efe, commissioned by the Ministry of Culture to Prof. Dr. Tankut Öktem, was also installed in its place in the garden.

The Yörük Ali Efe House Museum was opened to the public on 8 June 2001.