The Sakarya Museum Building was constructed as a three-storey residence with a basement on the ground floor by Major Baha Bey, the head of the Military Service Branch between 1910 and 1915. The residence where Mustafa Kemal Atatürk met and stayed with his mother during his visit to Adapazar for army inspections before the Great Attack on 14-21 June 1922 is of significance in terms of the War of Independence Period. The building, which was extensively damaged in the 1967 earthquake in Sakarya, was registered in 1981 as an example of civil architecture. Following expropriation by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the building was renovated and converted into a museum by renewing the exterior in accordance with the original appearance and completely changing the interior. The Sakarya Museum commenced operations in 1989 and was opened to the public in 1993. The archaeological hall displays a range of artefacts from various historical periods, including stone flakes, flat hand axes, osthotek, grave steles, bronze and terracotta vessels, gold figurines, oil lamps, scent and tear bottles, and metal and glass artefacts from the Prehistoric, Phrygian, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods. The coin showcases display coins from the Classical, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods. The Ethnography Hall exhibits artefacts from the Ottoman and Republican Periods, artefacts obtained from within the borders of Sakarya Province and artefacts brought from Bursa, Amasya, Konya, Tokat and Ankara Ethnography Museums. The artefacts include hand embroidery, candlesticks, gas lamps, firearms and cutting weapons, coffee mills, seals, copperware, healing bowls, coins of the Principalities and Ottoman period, and items used by the Great Leader Atatürk. In the museum garden, architectural pieces, tombstones, altars, inscribed stones, sarcophagi, terracotta pithoi and column bases belonging to the Roman and Byzantine periods within the borders of Sakarya are exhibited.
SAKARYA MUSEUM
