Guide
This 18th-century konak stands beside the Sarı Camii on Mimar Sinan Caddesi in the Meydan quarter, and the ministry calls it the oldest surviving example of domestic architecture in Edirne. It belonged to Emin Bey, the city's treasurer, and his family; after a period standing empty it was taken over by Necmi Ige and his family, and it is by his name that it is known.
The house runs to about 900 square metres and is built as a harem and selamlik over three levels — ground floor, mezzanine and upper floor — with seven rooms and six raised sitting platforms, the low built-in benches that a traditional Edirne room is arranged around.
What is displayed is the wedding. The museum stages the sequence as it was actually followed: the asking for the bride's hand, the trousseau room, the henna night, the groom's shave, the religious ceremony, the pouring of lead against the evil eye, the wedding meal, the bath and the bridal customs. Regional dress from Rumelia and the Balkans is shown alongside, with the crafts and customs of the region.
Necmi Ige, who was one of the founders of the Edirne Museum, was born in 1898 at the Igcioglu Ahmet Ağa konak near the Muradiye slope in the Küçükpazar district. In 1922 the family moved into this house, which belonged to his mother Adviye Hanım's brother Emin Bey, and he lived here until his death. Registered as Ahmet Necmeddin, he was known to everyone in Edirne outside official correspondence as 'Necmi Ağabey'. He died of a heart attack on 8 December 1953, aged 55.
