The stage costumes
Dozens of embroidered, sequinned outfits Müren designed himself fill the upper floor.
Gargarapalvin — CC BY 4.0 · Ozlmktv — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ozlmktv — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ozlmktv — CC BY-SA 4.0
In September 1996 Zeki Müren walked out of his house on Kumbahçe bay to be honoured at the state broadcaster's studios in İzmir, was handed the first microphone he had ever sung into, collapsed with a heart attack during the ceremony, and never came back. The house stayed as he left it: the ground floor with its furniture, curtains and everyday clutter, his Buick parked in the garden beside a bronze statue of him by Tankut Öktem. The Ministry of Culture opened it as a museum on 8 July 2000, and the street that leads to the door now carries his name. For anyone who has not heard of him: Müren was the voice of twentieth-century Turkish classical music, known at home simply as the 'Sun of Art'. But what makes the house worth a look is the image rather than the voice. He trained in decorative arts, designed his own dazzling stage outfits and painted seriously. The upper floor is arranged as a gallery of those embroidered, sequinned costumes, along with his canvases, records, awards, fan letters and photographs tracing the path from 1950s radio singer to a national icon who left his entire fortune to the Mehmetçik soldiers' foundation and the Turkish Education Foundation. Be honest with yourself before you go. It is small, the whole circuit takes forty minutes at most, and the story is intensely Turkish and does not translate easily for someone who has never heard the name. If you enjoy the glamour of 1960s and 70s showbiz, or want to understand why a Bodrum taxi driver goes quiet when one of his songs comes on, it is a pleasant hour. If you came for antiquities and views, stick to the castle and the underwater museum. Practically: foreigners pay 4 euros at the door (Müzekart is a card for Turkish residents), the museum opens 08:30-17:30 with the ticket desk closing at 17:00, and it is closed on Mondays. It is a ten-minute walk east of the castle along the Kumbahçe promenade, with free parking nearby; the path is flat and pushchair-friendly to the door, though the upper floor is reached by stairs. In August go in the morning, then step straight back onto the seafront.
Dozens of embroidered, sequinned outfits Müren designed himself fill the upper floor.
The ground floor keeps his furniture and everyday belongings untouched since autumn 1996.
His car sits in the garden beside a bronze likeness of him, the best photo on the site.
Kumbahçe Mah., Zeki Müren Cad., Bodrum
Bodrum CastleThe stones of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World are holding up these12 min walk4.7
Mausoleum at HalicarnassusEvery grand tomb on earth borrows its name from the man buried here. Mausolus, w20 min walk4.3
Ancient Theatre of HalicarnassusThese stone tiers are more than seventeen centuries older than Bodrum Castle, ye25 min walk4.4Honestly, no, unless you enjoy old showbiz glamour or you are already strolling past on the Kumbahçe promenade. The castle and the underwater museum deserve your time first; this is a pleasant forty-minute add-on, nothing more.
The walk in is flat and pushchair-friendly to the door, but the upper floor is up a staircase, and the displays are costumes, paintings and photographs that will not hold small children. Better for adults to pop in for half an hour while the kids play on the beach opposite.
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