Antalya postal museum

Rising prosperity has, especially starting with the developed countries in the secondhalf of the 20th century, brought in new cultural needs such as new museums. In our country,which aims to reach this development, novelties in the field of museology can start withincreasing of the number of thematic museums. Like all thematic museums in Turkey, postalmuseums are yet only in the beginning level. The Sirkeci PTT Museum opened in 2000 inİstanbul and Türk Telekom Communications Museum opened in 2002 in Ankara are the onlyexamples to the subject in Turkey. The Antalya Postal Museum suggested in this study willcontribute to the development of museology in Turkey, with the large internal and externaltouristic potential of a city such as Antalya. In this study, the constitution, mission and visionof the said museum has been discussed. In this capacity, the postal histories of Turkey andAntalya have been examined, and upon forming a base for the context and content of themuseological study, a museum has been proposed based on extant examples, in line with thepossible needs of Antalya Postal Museum.The postal history of Turkey should be started with the Ottoman Period where its rootsare set. Systematic communication activities in the Ottoman Empire starts with the traditional`Messenger-Stationhouse? system which starts with the founding of the state. The systemhaving been developed in various eras, mostly according to the administrative needs of thestate has been discontinued when in 1840, the first Postal Ministry has been founded and apostal organization that also serves civilians has been adopted. The first telegraph system hasbeen installed in 1854 and the first phone system in 1881. During the National ResistancePeriod, the Bureau of Post and Telegraph that has been formed based on the needs of thearmy, has been reorganized after the war has been won, and a PTT institution has beenformed under the Internal Affairs (Ministry of Interior), which has lived on until today withvarious developments and changes.The postal history of Antalya is parallel with the postal history of Turkey in general.Civilian communication in Antalya was very limited until the founding of the postalorganization in the Ottoman period. A telegraph station has been founded in Antalya in 1874or earlier. The place of Antalya in Anatolian postal network gained significance after theimplementation of horse carriage post and also the activation of sea routes around this time. In1905, the first wireless telegraph station of the country has been installed in Patara nearAntalya to enable communications with Trablusgarp (Tripolitania). A post office building hasbeen constructed in Antalya during the Italian occupation, and during the National Resistancexiiiperiod, Antalya gained more significance in the communication system. When in 1936,railway has arrived in Burdur, the postal services being run between Antalya and Burdurbegan to be scheduled in regard to train hours. Telegraph network has also spread amongAntalya and its rural districts. Antalya got connected to the intercity phone network. Antalyapost office has gained its administrative independence in 1987, until when it operated underIsparta PTT regional directorate.Museums have started to become institutions providing scientific, cultural andeducational services nowadays. Thematic museums in the subject of postal history around theworld are generally specialized as telecommunications, philately, or postal museums.Especially in developed countries, postal museums are known to speed up their developmentafter completing their institutionalization. While most of them are located in restoredhistorical buildings, new buildings are also being designed especially for expandingmuseums. In this study, Denmark Post and Tele Museum, Stockholm Post Museum, HungaryBalatonszemes and Nagyvázsony Museums, Helsinki Postal Museum, Paris Postal Museum,Bern New PTT Museum and Smithsonian National Postal Museum have been examined asthey present various size and conceptual examples.The hereby proposed Antalya Postal Museum should aim, first of all, to present thepostal history of Antalya and its surroundings, and then expand this scope to country- andworld-wide according to its capacity. Apart from this, the museum should aim to augment thetouristic and cultural value of the city, and to earn it some international prestige. The museumshould be a center for the documentation and tracking of objects relevant to postal history,primarily in and around Antalya. Also, all postal documents such as stamps and postcardswith any relevance to Antalya history. For the acquisition of the collection, cooperation withother official institutions should be undertaken along with field work.