The house where İsmet İnönü spent his childhood between 1891 and 1897 and finished the primary school is now called “İnönü House.” The house, situated in a district in the center of Sivas Bahtiyar Bostan neighborhood, was built by the Göğdünlüoğulları in 1830s.
In the second house of Göğdünlüoğulları (there is now a wedding hall standing in Bahtiyar Bostan neighborhood instead of the house) Şıpka Müdafii Hulusi Pasha (colloquially known as Ferik Pasha) lived.
At one night, Mustafa İsmet stopped and greeted Ferik Pasha on the way home like a soldier. Impressed with the big dark bright eyes and the greeting, Ferik Pasha went to Reşit Bey’s house as a guest. He called Mustafa İsmet and said “register the child in military school; he would make a good soldier.” Time passed quickly and İsmet İnönü who had to complete his primary school in Sivas Mahalle School due to the assignment of his father was registered in Sivas military junior high school. When he finished the school in 1895, he then attended Sivas Mülkiye (civil service) senior high school.
After having stayed for 6 years in Sivas, he left in 1897 and he tells his memories of Sivas under the title of “Çocukluğum” (my childhood) as continues:
“I was born in İzmir 1884. My father was a court officer who then was assigned to Sivas as coroner judge. I was 7 years old when we went to İzmir. I remember Sivas when speaking of my childhood memories. The house we lived in resembled a square with its big sofas and ottoman style divans. When I saw our house in Sivas after half-century, it was changed in a way quiet different and surprising to me.
My father Hacı Reşit Bey was a sincere and accurate Musulman to the full, concerning the morals. He was strict. Even when I was corps commander, my relationship with my father was rather formal. And that was why I tried to raise my kids like they were my friends. Both manners had a positive influence over the family.
My father played chess very good. I started recognizing the chess pieces when I was 10 or so. Because my father went conducting inquiries as the coroner judge at all sorts of time, he used to keep a horse around the house. I was familiar with and interested in horses since I was very little. Aside from horseback riding as a sport, I did not know the sports of today during the early days of education. I was major when I began playing football.
I went to a primary school in the Mahkeme Çarşısı for about 6 months and then entered the military Ottoman junior high school. School had four years of education. But I had to study for 5 years when I failed the class one year. It was not a very bright education period for me. I was very disappointed of the fact that I failed the class. This was the first failure of my life. In my fifth year, I became a very remarkable student. I commemorate the arithmetic teacher captain Ömer Efendi who failed me with gratitude and mercy. Then, I went to Sivas senior high school. They registered me in the fifth grade. I studied for a year here and was known as a very good student. The students in my class were older than me. Because I knew the difficulties, I always tried to protect my children from the tiredness of studying in classes who had older students. I know real good teachers from the military and high school. I owe my improvements to the arithmetic teacher in the military school as well as the math and literature teachers in the high school. I would like to say few things on the Mülkiye senior high schools. They opened as to give 7 year-of-education. It was around 1897. There were 10 to 15 people in a class. The teachers had mostly office holder background and the students were mostly elderly. I simply felt the mutual respect between the teachers and students. The ones who worked in the public service reached high positions with expertise. But, of course today’s high schools are more advanced concerning the schedule.”
Sivas İnönü House was assigned as İnönü House in 1945 by the Municipality. In the same year, 563 objects including arms, copper stuff, domestic appliances, little handicrafts, coins, Turkish style sitting groups, traditional Turkish dress “üçetek,” inlaid clothes, the black and white photos of İsmet İnönü and ethnographic studies collected by the municipality were displayed. Most of the ethnographic objects were transferred to Sivas House in 1951. Some of these objects are still being displayed both in Atatürk Congress and Ethnography Museum and İnönü House. The house has also have a big garden which is used as a playground.
In the following years, necessary repairs and maintenance were not done in the İnönü House which welcomes its guests by the Sivas Municipality as a Museum House. So, unfortunately, this increased the damage and wear.
Towards the end of 2000, with the attempts of Sivas Governor Dear M. Lütfullah Bilgin, as a result of the negotiations with the Sivas Municipality İnönü House was bought by the Special Provincial Directorate of Administration and two slums around it were communized. The historical artifacts in the house are protected by the directorate of Sivas Musuem.
All the restoration, land surveying and the environmental planning projects were prepared and presented to the Ministry of Culture, Kayseri Cultural and Natural Heritage Preservation Board. With the 30.01.2001 dated and 2731 numbered law of the same board, the essential renovation permission was taken and the house was put out to tender for 138.000.000.000.TL. Including the expenses on expropriation, in total 250.000.000.000.TL was spent on the house. Its 2000 square meters and environmentally planned garden was put into service as a café under Provincial Special Administration in 04.09.2002.
İnönü House was put under protection registered officially by the17.01.1981 dated and A-2654 numbered law of the High Council of Immovable Monuments and Antiquities.
The house is a typical Sivas house. It is founded on latticed stones and built as two-story house over the basement with its tile lining roof. The queen posts are cob-filled and lime plastered. The roof is covered with mission tiles.
In the restoration done in 2001 along with the environmental planning, the unsound parts of the support structure were also replaced and the house was reinforced. The floors and ceilings in the rooms of the first and second floor were renewed alongside with the rectangle-shaped windows. So the house regained its earlier look. The entrance of the house is in the east side and there is a wooden stairs. In the right side of the entrance in the ground floor, there are two rooms used as woodbin and coalbunker as well as the space with two rooms for the watchman. The house has oriels in the first and second floor and there is a manor room at the west side of the façade.
On the first floor, there is a hall called sofa and a room to the right. The other door across the room opens to the second hall. In the south of the hall there are two rooms. In the rooms, situated in the north and south façades of the first floor, there are recesses in the walls for putting jugs and glasses. Again, there are wooden stairs on the way to the second floor. Alongside with a manor room, there is also another room. The floors and ceilings are made of flat wooden. The ceilings are blue oil painting. The wooden closets in the first and second floors are modest and used as display windows. The place of the furnace stands out in the coalbunker in the ground floor.
In 1945 a wooden ceiling was brought to İnönü House in order to be displayed from a house which collapsed in Sivas. This ceiling then was installed to the ceiling of the room with recesses in the wall in the north façade. By this means, the ceiling was both protected and displayed.
In addition to that, the clothes, photos, documents and books belonging İsmet İnönü which were given by İnönü Foundation are also displayed.
(All the information above is compiled from the introductory booklet “Sivas İnönü House” prepared and published by Sivas Governorship in 2002 with the contribution of Presidency of Prime Minister’s Promotion Fund Board.)
VISITING HOURS
Sivas İnönü House is open on weekdays between 8.30 am and 16.00 pm.
ADDRESS: Bahtiyar Bostan District. Alibaba Street.No:18 SİVAS
Telephone: 0 346 221 31 37
