Edirne Between Selimiye, Museums and Living Traditions

Edirne brings together significant Ottoman architecture, museums, historic sites and festivals that remain part of the city’s cultural life today. The Selimiye Mosque, exhibitions on the city’s history, and the Kırkpınar and Kakava traditions each offer a different focus. When planning your trip, you can consider whether architecture and history, a festival date or regional cuisine will shape your stay.

Selimiye and the City’s Museums

The Selimiye Mosque complex is considered a masterpiece of human creative genius by the architect Sinan. The mosque is accompanied by educational institutions, an open courtyard and a covered bazaar. The mosque’s dome is 31.5 metres high, and four towering minarets define its form. The complex can therefore be appreciated not only for its architecture: its other components also show how different functions come together within the site.

Southeast of the Selimiye Mosque is a medrese, used as the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art since 1925. Its exhibitions include photographs of wrestlers, a mannequin of the Kırkpınar Ağa, and a Kırkpınar hologram in a dedicated room. The garden also features dining cars from the Balkan War, a cannon and cannonballs. The museum thus brings together connections to tradition and history.

The Selimiye Vakıf Museum displays historic endowment objects in themed rooms, with dedicated areas for metalwork, calligraphy, woodwork, tilework and clocks. The Edirne City Museum covers a broad time span, from the Chalcolithic period to the present day. Three-dimensional silicone figures and digital screens present the city’s past and present. The museum offers educational programmes, as well as cultural and artistic events, for school students.

City History and Special Collections

Those interested in the history of the Balkan region will find topics such as Ottoman rule in the Balkans, Ottoman architecture, the Balkan Wars, the Siege of Edirne and migration at the Balkan History Museum. The museum grounds include a reception and ticket office, parking, a rest area and toilets. The Sultan II Bayezid Health Museum is located in the complex’s Darüşşifa in the Yeniimaret neighbourhood in central Edirne. It reconstructs a 500-year-old Ottoman bimarhane and presents historic treatment methods that used music, the sound of water, pleasant scents and activities. The Sultan II Bayezid complex is on the banks of the Tunca.

The Edirne Archaeology and Ethnography Museum offers further insights, with Thracian horseman steles and prehistoric tombs such as Hacılar Dolmen, Arpalık Dolmen and Taşlıca Bayır Höyüğü. The Necmi İğe Evi Ethnography Museum uses 30 hyperrealistic silicone figures to recreate wedding customs, crafts, and local customs and traditions. The Tower of Justice is the only surviving building of the Edirne Palace. The National Struggle and Lausanne Museum displays books, documents and materials related to the Treaty of Lausanne.

Festivals and Regional Specialties

Traditions also give a trip to Edirne its own rhythm. The Kakava-Hıdırellez celebrations take place every year on 5 and 6 May. In Sarayiçi, on the banks of the Tunca, they begin with a large bonfire. Residents and visitors gather to traditional music and jump over the fire as they make wishes. During the celebrations, participants go to the riverbank early in the morning and wash their faces with water.

Another fixture of the city is the Kırkpınar Oil Wrestling Festival. It takes place every summer in Sarayiçi and lasts seven days. The festival includes regional food, dance and music. The Sarayiçi Kırkpınar Er Meydanı is the historic venue where the Turkish Başpehlivan is chosen. Those who want to experience Edirne at this time can plan their stay around the festival; Kakava and Kırkpınar offer two distinct occasions and traditions.

Edirne Tava Ciğeri is one of the region’s specialties: thinly sliced pieces of liver are fried in sunflower oil produced in Edirne and served with fried red peppers typical of Edirne. You can try the dish in many of the city’s restaurants. Edirne Kavala Kurabiyesi is available as a souvenir in souvenir arcades, bazaars and outlets of manufacturers in Edirne. These culinary specialties complement a stay that can focus just as readily on museums, architecture or festivals.

When looking for a holiday rental in Edirne, you can first decide which of these sides of the city you want to shape your stay: Selimiye and the collections, the historical and cultural themes of the museums, an annual festival or regional dishes. Karaağaç Historic Train Station is also included in GoTürkiye’s Visitor Route 5 for Edirne.

Discover More Places

Other places on this page include Sarıcapaşa, Keşan, Kemal, Mecidiye, Karaağaç, Enez, Sultan, Yaylaköy, Uzunköprü, Edirne, Seydiköy, Demirköy Köyü, İpsala, Bosna Köyü, Lalapaşa and Gülçavuş Köyü.

For the broader travel overview: Marmara.