Bolu | Madanlar Mansion, Mudurnu

Mudurnu is a deep-rooted ancient town located on the historical Silk Road in the Western Black Sea Region of Anatolia. An important center of trade and culture during the early Ottoman period, the settlement and its surroundings are home to numerous tangible and intangible cultural and natural assets, including Ottoman trade and crafts heritage, Sultan mosques, a 700-year-old bazaar where the Merchant Prayer continues, and a rich wooden housing fabric.

Nestled in a narrow and quiet valley, the district was awarded the CittaSlow (Sakin Şehir) title in 2015 and is on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List as 'the Historic Guild Town of Mudurnu’. With its natural, historical and cultural beauties, Mudurnu is still a little-known gem, despite being located between Istanbul and Ankara and very close to Lake Abant (20 km)...

Among the cultural stops to explore in the district are the Clock Tower, the Yıldırım Bayezid Mosque and Bath, the Ahiler Museum in the Ironsmiths Bazaar in the Arasta, the Pertev Naili Boratav Culture House on the lower street (the old Silk Road) in the Arasta, handicraft workshops and shops, the Suleiman the Magnificent Mosque by the stream and the Armutçular Mansion.

Madanlar Mansion: The mansion, nicknamed Madanlar, is located in a large garden in Hızırfakı Neighborhood. Fully reflecting the local residential architectural characteristics of Mudurnu, the three-storey mansion features wooden ceiling motifs unique to Mudurnu houses, bay windows, couches in the sofa areas and rooms opening to the sofas. In the sofas, there are flower shelves (‘çiçeklik’), an interior architectural element unique to Mudurnu, and in the rooms, there are wooden benches (‘sedir’) by the windows, built-in wooden closets and a traditional hearth (‘ocak’).

Owners and operator:

Madanlar Konağı, the first Special Accommodation Facility certified hotel in Mudurnu, was restored jointly by its original co-owner from Mudurnu (Mehmet Nuri Doğulu) and new co-owners from Istanbul (Ege Yıldırım and Zeynep Erdoğan). One of the partners, Dr. Ayşe Ege Yıldırım, the author of Mudurnu's first cultural heritage site management plan and site manager from 2015-20, founded Terra Mudurnu Inc. in 2021. Terra Mudurnu, which acts with the vision of "Mudurnu having a sustainable economy and quality of life based on the protection of local culture and nature, and becoming a high-level tourism destination, and a district where young people want to live", operates Madanlar Mansion as a hotel and cultural center. The mansion has 4 rooms with a total capacity of 8 people, and meetings and events can be held in its large garden, in the event room in the garden and in the sofas inside the mansion.