The museum is named after Mehmet Ali Kağıtçı, the chemical engineer who founded the Turkish paper industry in the 1930s.
The museum covers 13,000 square meters of exhibition space within a former industrial complex.
The facility includes original laboratories where raw wood pulp was tested for paper quality.
The museum building represents a successful example of adaptive reuse of a massive, early-Republic-era industrial plant.
Interactive zones allow visitors to engage in traditional handmade paper production methods.
The site retains original structural elements like heavy-duty steel beams and high-ceiling warehouses typical of 1930s architecture.
The Seka Mehmed Ali Kağıtçı Museum is Turkey's largest industrial museum, housed within the repurposed grounds of the former SEKA Paper Mill, which was once the country's first state-owned paper production facility. The museum displays the complete lifecycle of paper manufacturing, utilizing original industrial machinery and tools restored to their functional states. Visitors explore the history of papermaking through interactive workshops and archival documentation detailing the mill's socio-economic impact on İzmit. The facility is situated within the extensive Sekapark area, a large urban waterfront redevelopment project. It emphasizes the transformation of the region from a heavy industrial hub into a cultural and recreational landscape. The exhibits feature preserved paper presses, chemical vats, and historical archives spanning several decades of Turkish industrial heritage.
The main hall featuring the massive, brightly painted original paper production machinery.
Check the schedule for live papermaking demonstrations, which occur periodically.
Explore the surrounding Sekapark waterfront area after your museum visit for a comprehensive view of the industrial transformation.
Allow extra time for the interactive workshops if you are traveling with children.
Do not mistake the museum for the surrounding general park areas; ensure you head specifically to the industrial building designated as the museum.
Closed on Mondays.
Maintain a respectful tone near industrial machinery and do not touch exhibits unless explicitly marked as interactive.
