Özet:

In the Ottoman country, the interest in ancient arts and activities of museum studies started in the middle of the XIX century. It was tried to prohibit the smuggling of ancient artefacts in the country in 1874, 1884, and 1906 by overcoming the deficiencies of the e Law of Antiquities (Asar-ı Atika Nizamnamesi) which was prepared for the first time in 1869 when the Müze-i Hümâyȗn (The Imperial Museum) was opened. Following İstanbul, museum branches were opened in Konya, Bursa, and Jerusalem. In the regulation prepared in 1906, it was decided to establish new regional museums in Thessaloniki, Izmir, and Sivas. Within this scope, the works for establishing a museum in Thessaloniki started from 1908. The main purpose of the research was to examine the efforts invested in opening of the museum of Thessaloniki. In this sense, first, antiquities available in Thessaloniki and around were mentioned. Within this period, the attention was drawn to European archaeologists’ interest on the area. Later, the study investigated the works carried out for protecting antiquities and the issue of transfer of antiquities found out in the province to the Müze-i Hümâyȗn (The Imperial Museum). Finally, the activities of museum studies starting with the protection of ancient artefacts in the Thessaloniki Mekteb-i İdadi (High School) were evaluated. The main sources of the study were Ottoman Archive documents, Thessaloniki province annuals, and periodical publications of that period.

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