Birgi Çakırağa Mansion

Birgi is a quiet, green village on the southern slope of the Bozdağlar (ancient Tmolos), with a small stream running through it. Çakırağa Mansion belongs to a family of wealthy local merchants and dates from around the turn of the 19th century, when it was built and completed by two successive owners, Abdullah Ağa and Şerif Ağa.

It is a U-shaped house of a ground floor and two upper floors, built with a stone base, a timber frame and mud-brick infill, a typical Ottoman method. Its great charm is the painted decoration, done in the kalem işi technique, which covers walls and ceilings in rich patterns.

After years of neglect the mansion was repaired in stages, with major works between 1977 and 1995, and now works as a museum. It is a good source for understanding Ottoman domestic life in western Anatolia, from how rooms were arranged to how a wealthy household presented itself.

It is best taken slowly, room by room, looking up as much as around.