Archaeological site:
On the northern bank of the Yeşilırmak River in Amasya there is a district of old Ottoman houses called Hatuniye Mahallesi. Near the stairs leading to the Tombs of the Pontic Kings stands the mansion called Hazeranlar Konağı. It was built in 1865 and underwent a major renovation in 1979.
Hazeranlar Mansion was built by Hasan Talat, a poet, an accountant, and the provincial treasurer of Ziya Pasha, the Governor of Amasya, for his sister Hazeran Hanım. Ziya Paşa (i.e. Abdul Hamid Ziyaeddin) was one of the most important writers of the period of reforms of the Ottoman state, called the Tanzimat (1839–1876). For some time, he lived in exile in France and England, and after returning to his homeland, he served as governor of Cyprus, Amasya, Konya, Aleppo and Adana.
The mansion was called "Hazeranlar" after Lady Hazeran, who lived there for many years. The mansion was built on the fortification walls of the ancient period, with mud brick walls and wooden roofs over the basement.
Located on the bank of Yeşilirmak River, the Hazeranlar Mansion, is an important building, representative of the nineteenth century civil residential architecture. It was expropriated by the Turkish authorities in 1976. Restoration works of the mansion were started in 1979 and completed in 1983, and the mansion was opened to the punlic in 1984, as a "museum house” with ethnographic works exhibited.
The renovated rooms are beautifully furnished with Ottoman-era appliances. The whole is complemented by chandeliers and decorative details carved in wood. Mannequins were placed in the rooms illustrating how the inhabitants of the house spend their time.
Hazeranlar Konağı has two floors above the basement, which accommodate eleven rooms. The house is divided, in accordance with Muslim tradition, into a family, strictly private part, i.e. haremlik, and a part intended for men's guests, i.e. selamlik.
As in other houses from this period of the Turkish history, the most important room is the so-called sofa, also known as çardak. It is a kind of hall that connects the other rooms and constitutes the central part of the house. It was here that meetings and even weddings took place, prayers were offered, and births were celebrated. In everyday life, residents played games, prepared meals, and sometimes ate them in the sofa.
There are also several carpets and kilims, some traditional clothes and everyday items on display in the house. In the basement of Hazeranlar Mansion there is an art gallery with changing exhibitions.