Karslıoğlu Mansion

Karslıoğlu Mansion was built in 1883 in the İstanbulluoğlu neighbourhood and survives today as one of Yozgat's best-preserved Ottoman-era residences. A three-line Greek inscription and the date 1883 on the pediment of its south-facing porch, together with cross motifs later chiselled off the room doors, suggest the house originally belonged to a Greek family. The mansion takes its current name from Yusuf Karslıoğlu, who served as mayor of Yozgat between 1929 and 1936, purchased the building, and used it for many years. Atatürk stayed here during his first visit to Yozgat, on 3 February 1934, and the mansion subsequently served for a long period as the Governor's Residence. Expropriated by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 1977, it underwent its first restoration, completed in 1990, and is now allocated to the Special Provincial Administration. Rising two storeys above a basement, the ground floor is built of yellow cut (Nevşehir) stone while the upper floor is of masonry construction, all beneath a hipped roof; the entrance is reached through a stone-framed, round-arched porch on the south side. Inside, an octagonal central hall is ringed by rooms at each corner, and the finely carved wooden ceiling decorations rank among the finest examples of their period. Combining architectural refinement with its association with Atatürk's visit, the mansion is one of the city's most valued examples of civil architecture.