Cretan Culture House - Cretan Museum is in Side, a district of Manavgat. It has hosted many civilizations until today. Cretan Culture House - Cretan Museum was opened by the Manavgat Municipality. It serves to protect, preserve, promote, and transfer Cretans' cultural values and historical heritage, which form an important part of Side's historical past, to future generations.
Side is formerly known as Selimiye. It has a special value for Cretan citizens. Cretans fleeing the Greek invasion in the early 1900s are sent to the Ihsaniye, Ahmediye, Kadriye and Selimiye Villages in Anatolian lands by Sultan Abdulhamid the 2nd. In the early days, 68 Cretan households settled in Selimiye Village, and this number has been increasing over the years. Thus, Cretans become an integral part of Side.
At the Cretan Culture House - Cretan Museum, visitors get an impressive journey into the past that leaves a trace in the memories while acquiring historical and cultural information. The museum draws attention to the distinguished collection of artifacts used by Cretans in their daily lives. It consists of three sections: the welcome section, the technical section and the exhibition hall. There are photographs, folkloric and ethnographic objects, documents, models and panels that describe the social life of the period in the House of Cretans, where there are three interconnected halls. The museum hosts exhibitions at certain times of the year, interesting organizations such as promotional days, school trips, events where Cretan Foods are held.
In 2020, Cretan Culture House-Critli Museum participated in the Museum Encouragement Competition organized by the Union of Historical Cities to encourage good museum practices, to reinforce the mission of local governments to be a leader in museology practices and to create conservation awareness, and to strengthen the cooperation between museums created by the initiative of local governments in our country. It brought an award to the Municipality of Manavgat in 'Migration Museums'. It is among the values emphasizing that Side has a unique cultural past.
