Turkey’s first cheese museum in Kars draws immense interest
KARS Cheese Museum in northeastern Turkey attracts great attention from locals and foreign tourists as it is 18th cheese museum in the world and the first in Turkey. According to the data of the museum, 12,000 people visited the Cheese Museum within three months.
The museum, which is registered as the “18th Cheese Route of the World,” includes more than 30 types of cheese and it stands out as the new tourist destination point in Kars.
Museum Director Yeşim Koç stated that it is necessary to tell the history of the museum building and said: “This is actually a bastion built in 1734, and it was called the Cavalry Bastion. It is also known as the Dere Bastion. This building was especially important for us in terms of its history. When we go inside, we try to explain, especially Kars’ cheeses, from its production to the sale process. We have a plateau section, a milking area and an endemic plant section. We have sections where we introduce Ottoman houses and Russian buildings.”
Noting that the museum has attracted great attention, “We encountered a great deal of interest. In fact, this place has been very important in terms of tourism. We were met with great interest by the people of Kars as well. We are just a 3-monthold museum. Our museum has been open since February, and the number of visitors since then is over 12,000. We are proud of this, I hope it will be more, our number of visitors will increase even more,” she added.
In the museum, tools used in making cheese such as storage tanks, gruyere cooking apparatuses, casks for yeast, and salt molds have also been put on display while cheesemaking is animated as well.
The section of Dere Bastion’s history includes the representations of Kars Station, Kars’ vegetation, Ankara Gazi Station, gruyere production hall, cheese hall, Kars’ houses, chef ’s working station and workshop areas.