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Eskişehir Meerschaum Museum

Coordinates: 39°45′46″N 30°31′29″E / 39.76278°N 30.52472°E / 39.76278; 30.52472
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Eskişehir Meerschaum Museum
Lületaşı Müzesi
Eskişehir Meerschaum Museum is located in Turkey
Eskişehir Meerschaum Museum
Location of the museum in Turkey.
Established2008; 16 years ago (2008)
LocationOdunpazarı, Eskişehir, Turkey
Coordinates39°45′46″N 30°31′29″E / 39.76278°N 30.52472°E / 39.76278; 30.52472
TypeHandicraft
CollectionsMeerschaum pipes
Collection size400
FounderOdunpazarı Municipality
An unused meerschaum pipe.

Eskişehir Meerschaum Museum (Turkish: Lületaşı Müzesi) is a handicraft museum in Odunpazarı district of Eskişehir, Turkey, exhibiting various items handmade of sepiolite (Meerschaum).

Sepiolite or Meerschaum is a soft white clay mineral, which is mainly used to handicraft tobacco pipes called Meerschaum pipes. The opaque and off-white, grey or cream colored mineral is soft when extracted. However, it hardens on exposure to solar heat or when dried in a warm place. This feature allows it to give a permanent shape after carving it at soft state. Meerschaum deposits are found in Eskişehir region, generally at first rank in the world, in depths up to 150 m (490 ft).[1]

The exhibited items of the museum were collected by Eskişehir Governorship during the International Meerschaum Festival, Meerschaum handicraft competitions and exhibits held in Eskişehir since 1998. Around 400 items handmade by 60 artisans were left to Odunpazarı Municipality. The museum was established by Odunpazarı Municipality inside the Kurşunlu Complex at Odunpazarı as the world's only in its kind in 2008.[1][2]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Lületaşı Müzesi" (in Turkish). Odunpazarı Belediyesi. Retrieved 2017-04-14.
  2. ^ "Dünyanın İlk Lületaşı Müzesi - Eskişehir Lületaşı". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 2012-01-21. Retrieved 2017-04-14.