Türkiye's Kars Cheese Museum attracts Bayram visitors
Kars Cheese Museum features Gravyer (Turkish Gruyere) cheese and other unique varieties, Kars, Türkiye, June 23, 2024. (IHA Photo)


Kars Cheese Museum, Türkiye's first and only museum of its kind, attracted significant attention during the holiday season. A popular destination for both domestic and international tourists visiting Kars for the holidays, the museum captivates visitors.

Located in the historical Cavalry Barracks where various cheeses, especially Gruyere, known as Gravyer in Türkiye, are produced in Kars, the museum narrates the journey of dairy farming, featuring sections with barns, milk-filled vessels, highland life and cheese production. With a visitable area of ​​1,100 square meters (11,840.30 square feet), the museum also boasts of being the "world's largest cheese museum."

Havva Göçen Kar, who came from Trabzon to spend the holidays in Kars, said: "We are currently at the Cheese Museum. We are glad we came because the presentation of Kars' cheese varieties in such a beautifully arranged historical structure and the storytelling deeply impressed all of us. We learned a lot of things we didn't know. We toured these places with a guide and we are happy and satisfied."

Harun Hamza Çebi, expressing how much the museum has impressed them, said: "We are in one of the most beautiful places we have visited. It is very valuable for us that these places are utilized in this way because we are preventing their disappearance. Highlighting these places as museums and promoting them, as well as presenting local products beautifully, gave us great pleasure to visit this museum. We thank everyone involved."

The museum also introduces endemic flowers that give taste to many kinds of cheese produced in Kars and includes sections such as Gravyer cheese making, cheese hall, video room, representative Kars Station, Kars vegetation, Ankara Gazi Station, Kars houses, chef and workshop sections.

In the museum, visitors can explore animated displays showcasing Gravyer cheese and learn about the production of Kars-specific cheeses. The entrance also features representative Gravyer cheeses that draw visitors' attention. Additionally, the museum displays tools used in cheese making, including storage tanks, Gruyere cooking apparatuses, yeast casks and salt molds.

The museum, which is registered as the "18th Cheese Route of the World," includes more than 30 types of cheese and it stands out as the new tourist destination point in Kars.