The story of Söğüt Ertuğrul Gazi Museum

Söğüt is known as the town from which the Ottoman Empire originated, yet its museum began life as something far humbler: a dispensary. The three-storey wooden building was put up in the early 1900s as an Ottoman dispensary, and in 2001, after restoration, it opened its doors as a museum.

It bears the name of Ertuğrul, father of Osman I, the founder of the empire, whose tomb also stands in Söğüt, though not in the same quarter as the museum. Inside, step into the world of the Yörüks of the Bilecik area: look for old clothes, carpets, weighing instruments, flags, weapons and coin purses.

Then turn to the archaeological finds, from earthenware kitchen tools of the Roman Empire to coins from the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman eras.