Türkiye’s first hazelnut museum opens in Ordu

The three-story historic Kahraman Sağra Mansion in Türkiye's Altınordu district was restored by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 2018.

Believed to have been built in the late 19th century, the mansion was allocated to Ordu Metropolitan Municipality to be used as a hazelnut museum, CE Report quotes Anadolu Agency.

At the Kahraman Sağra Hazelnut Museum, which opened to visitors in 2020 in Selimiye Neighborhood of Altınordu, visuals and materials on display explain the history of hazelnuts, harvesting from orchards, sorting and drying on threshing floors, processing and usage, their contribution to the city and regional economy, and the traces they have left in Ordu’s cultural memory.

Ordu Metropolitan Mayor Mehmet Hilmi Güler told Anadolu Agency that Ordu is the city producing the most hazelnuts in the world.

Stating that they wanted to create a museum fitting this characteristic, Güler said the museum opened in 2020 has attracted great interest and has hosted approximately 60,000 visitors.

“We wanted it to contribute to both the sector and our culture”

Pointing out that it is the first and only museum dedicated to hazelnuts, Güler said:
“Kahraman Sağra is a very important figure for us. He is someone who provided significant services to hazelnuts and established its industry. Therefore, by opening the Ordu Kahraman Sağra Hazelnut Museum, which embodies these qualities, we wanted it to contribute to the sector, our culture, our business world, and industry.”

Güler noted that everyone visiting the museum tours it with great interest, adding that they have increased chocolate production, established an activated carbon factory, and contributed to many fields by adding value to new products, inspired by the strength they gained from this initiative.

Emphasizing that hazelnuts are a culture and way of life for the region, Güler continued:

“It is also the transformation of labor into a product. In this respect, it is very meaningful for us. We express this as ‘from the orchard to our table.’ It is a natural source with extremely high nutritional value and an important input for chocolate. But hazelnuts mean much more to us than all of these. We reflected that meaning through the museum, its historical dimension, and by highlighting the valuable contributions of people from the past, creating a meaningful museum. It is an important chain of values that brings all of these together.”

As reported by CE Report, sharing that they have intensified promotional activities for the museum, Güler said, “As the number of visiting tourists continues to increase, we believe we will multiply this figure very soon in terms of both domestic and foreign tourists.”