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ÇANKIRI MUSEUM
The
Çankιrι Museum is located on the second floor of the 100. Yil Kültür Merkezi, south of the monument area. Old Bronze Age (3000-2500 BC), Hittite Age (2000-1000 BC), Phrygian (1000-500 BC), Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk, and Ottoman works are exhibited. Archeological and ethnographical items are displayed together in the exhibition hall, and some of the stone works are exhibited outside. The archeology section includes earthenware pots, bones, glasses, beads, bronze tools, ornamental furniture, tear and perfume bottles, medical apparatuses, heavy sacks, kerosene lamps, needles, ring gems, and many statue parts. The ethnography section includes regional woven fabric, handicrafts, handwriting samples, press patterns, clothes, guns, ornaments, and furniture representing daily life in
Çankιrι.
Also on display is a historical ox cart which carried ammunition in the Turkish War of Independence on the Inebolu - Kastamonu -
Çankιrι - Ankara roads. The glass works exhibition hall contains many Roman and Byzantine items. Outside the building, lion statues from various civilizations, grave steles, milestones, epitaphs, and grain cubes are displayed.
ÇANKIRI CASTLE
The castle was built on a small hill on the north side of the city. It was famous for its strength during the Roman, Byzantine, Danisment, Seljuk, and Ottoman Ages, but now only a few ramparts remain. They have a quadrilateral plan and are made of rubble stones and bricks. The castle, 150 meters above the stream, contains earthenware pots, Roman rock graves, and Emir Karatekin Bey’s tomb, the conqueror of
Çankιrι. Trees were planted at the castle years ago. It continues to be used as a picnic area and place of pilgrimage.
EMIR KARATEKIN BEY AND HIS TOMB
Emir Karatekin Bey, one of the commanders of the great Seljuk sultan, Sultan Alparslan was charged with the conquest of Anatolia. After ruling Turhal and Zile, he conquered Sinop and
Çankιrι. After conquering Çankiri in 1074, he spent the rest of his life working there. His tomb, made of simple rubble stone and brick, is in the
Çankιrι Castle. Its importance and attraction to visitors is as a shrine, not as an example of architecture.
 TAS MESCID (CEMALEDDIN FERRUH DARULHADISI)
This theological school is the most important remaining Seljuk monument. It is interesting in terms of art history as well as plastic arts. The hospital section was built by Çankiri Atabeyi Cemalettin Ferruh in 1235 during the reign of Seljuk Sultan Keyhüsrevoglu I. Alaaddin Keykubat. The theological school was added to the hospital in 1242. The hospital, which was made of rubble stone, has since crumbled. The theological school, however, was built of cut stones and remains standing in its entirety. Its importance in plastic art is because of two carved figures. The first one has been a subject of various periodicals. It is a 100x25 cm relief of two dragons or snakes entwined face to face. The relief was the source of the modern medical symbol. The original relief was lost and replaced by an identical reproduction. The second figure, called “The water drinking snake” by locals, is a statue rather than a relief like the first. The part of the statue which is shaped like a cup is made of the same type of porous stone that is used in the Darulhadis. A snake is entwined around the statue with an extension on top. This motif is used today as the pharmaceutical symbol, and is exhibited in the
Çankιrι Museum.
MOSQUE OF SULTAN SÜLEYMAN, THE MAGNIFICENT
The mosque was built during the time of Mimar Sinan, but was actually built by Sadik Kalfa by order of the great Ottoman Padishah, Kanuni Sultan Süleyman. There is an inscription in old Turkish indicating the years in which the mosque was built, from 1522 to 1558, but it is not known why it took so long to complete it. The mosque is laid out in a square with one large central dome surrounded by four half domes, one on each side. The walls and mihrab (prayer niche showing the direction to Mecca) are covered with cut stone, and the upper portion of the domes are covered with lead. The inside of the mosque is in Rokoku style with adorning handwriting samples. The mihrab is richly decorated with stalactites. The mimber (pulpit) is of cut stone, the pedestal has corners, and the body is round. The doorjamb is made of marble, the arches are key stone, and it has an internally channelled console. The overflow foyer is covered with three domes supported by four columns. There are prayer niches decorated with stalactites on both sides.
The mosque is located in Mimar Sinan neighborhood within
Çankιrι city limits. It was restored in 1992 by the General Directorate of Foundations.
MEDRESES (OTTOMAN EMPIRE RELIGION COLLEGES)
During the Ottoman Age, education and science were considered to have great importance and many medreses were founded in
Çankιrι and throughout the country.
The Çivitçioglu Medrese which is east of the Great Mosque, and the Bugday Pazari Medrese in the garden of the Bugday Pazari Mosque are two monuments that have been standing since the 17th century.
HACI MURAD-I VELI AND HIS TOMB
Haci Murad-i Veli was the son of Aliyyübüka who came from Turkestan in the 12th century. After staying for some time around Hejaz, Damascus, and Urfa, he settled down in the
Çankιrι region. His tomb is in Seydiköy Village in Eldivan County.
After taking lessons from Turkestani scholars, Haci Murad-i Veli settled in Seydiköy in 1187 and began to teach students there. His children also became scholars and were involved in educating the people.
His shrine, situated in the upper part of the village, is adjoined to a mosque and built of rough rocks with a wooden roof. Although neither the mosque or the shrine with their simple structures have any architectural significance, they attract quite a number of visitors since the site is considered holy, belonging to Haci Murad-i Veli, one of the Horasani saints.
ROCK TOMBS IN SAKAELI VILLAGE
These tombs, believed to belong to the Roman and Byzantine ages, are located in Sakaeli Village, 8 km northeast of Orta which is 69 km from Çankiri. These groups of structures are arranged from southwest to northeast within a narrow line between the Devrez Stream and the steep slopes of a hill against which the village leans.
The cavities are near the base of the hill, and are carved out of sedimentary rock and gravel. They have been enclosed by the villagers and are being used for various purposes. The height and surface area dimensions vary between 2 - 3.5 m and 1.5 x 1.5 m - 10 x10 m respectively. There are individual and connected rooms, rooms with stairs, and windows for light. They are laid out in square, rectangle, and round plans with flat, domed, or rounded roofs. Large and small niches carved in the walls were used for both sleeping and for burial. Some of the rooms have arched entrances with sarcophagi inside. Among the rooms is a 27-step stairway leading down to a reservoir.
The fairy chimney formations and the rock tombs at “Gelin Kayasi” (Bride’s Rock), two km from the village along the Devrez Stream, create an interesting view.
 CENDERE (SALMAN) TUMULUS
This tumulus is located in Cendere Village which is on the edge of the Çankiri-Kastamonu highway in southeast Ilgaz County. The top of the tumulus is flat, and its height is 20-25 meters. There are terra cotta remnants scattered around as a result of local agricultural activity and unauthorized digging. It is believed that settlements predating the Roman and Byzantine remains existed here. Monumental structures in the area are on the eastern slopes of a rather high and rocky hill south of the Devrez Stream. There are several man-made caves, rock tombs, a rock temple or church, and several other cavities whose purpose is as yet undetermined. It is believed that there were several sacred rooms connected to the tumulus which were used for religious ceremonies.
Rock temples were built into steep, narrow passes along the caravan routes in order to protect themselves from robbers while praying and worshipping.
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