Cappadocia Living Heritage Museum

The Cappadocia Living Heritage Museum is an interactive museum located in the Avanos district of Nevşehir. It was established with the purpose of preserving, sustaining, and transmitting the region’s intangible cultural heritage to future generations. The museum began its activities in 2019 through the collaboration of the Cappadocia Research and Application Center (NEVKAM) within Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University and the faculty members and students of the Turkish Folk Studies Department.

^{Living Heritage Museum (}Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli Üniversitesi⁾

The museum is housed in a historic building constructed in 1902 by Mehmet Nuri Bey, commonly known as "Dr. Hacı Nuri Bey Mansion." Built using yellow stone and basalt, the three-story structure features an inner courtyard, wooden balconies, stone-decorated arcades, and finely crafted iron railings. The mansion served for many years as the “Government Physician’s Office” and “Tekel Building” and is named after Dr. Hacı Nuri Bey (1878–1941), a prominent military physician from Avanos.

The museum aims to preserve and sustain the regional culture within the framework of UNESCO’s 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Cultural heritage elements such as Karagöz shadow play, aşık and abdal traditions, meddah (storytelling), paper marbling (ebru), linden printing, sema and semah (spiritual dances), and oral storytelling are presented to visitors both as performances and interactive experiences.

Each room in the museum is dedicated to a specific cultural theme:

• Storytelling Room: Revives the oral tradition through fairy tale narrations
• Karagöz Room: Traditional shadow play performances and practices
• Handicrafts Room: Workshops on paper marbling (ebru) and woodblock printing
• Weaving Room: Presentation and hands-on experience of Avanos carpet weaving
• Bride Room: Cappadocian wedding customs
• Tafana Section: Regional culinary culture
• Aşık Room: Live music performances and abdal tradition
• Folk Medicine Room: Traditional practices such as lead pouring to ward off the evil eye
• Courtyard: Children’s games, toys, and seasonal celebrations

The Cappadocia Living Heritage Museum functions not only as a display space for cultural heritage but also as a center for learning and experience-based activities related to cultural tourism in Avanos. It serves local and international tourists as well as students, academics, and research groups.

The museum is open daily from 08:30 to 17:30. Visitors are provided with guided tours at the entrance, and participation in workshops is available.