Kars Cheese Museum attracts 60,000 visitors in first half of 2026

Turkey’s first and only thematic cheese museum in Kars reported about 60,000 local and foreign visitors during the first six months of 2026. The museum, opened in March 2022, spans a 250 m² exhibition space and a 5,000 m² activity area and markets itself as the world’s largest cheese museum. It showcases more than 30 regional cheese varieties, displays the region’s long‑standing high‑land livestock practices, endemic plants, and offers workshops, a café and a shop.

Museum director Yeşim Koç noted that visitor numbers have risen from 42,000 in the same period in 2025 to roughly 60,000 in 2026, bringing the cumulative total since opening to around 350,000 tourists. Visitors praised the museum’s role in promoting local products and culture, with one visitor saying it “greatly boosts tourism in summer.” The museum is credited with supporting the local economy and expanding Kars’s appeal beyond its traditional winter‑tourism image.