Best Museums in Istanbul

In the city of dreams, take a journey to the best museums. Being such an iconic city and having lots of museums, you are most likely close to one of the museums in Istanbul. Museums in Istanbul generally focus on art and history.

In this article, we compiled some of them for you.

Istanbul Modern Art Museum

Istanbul Modern is known for being Turkey's first museum of modern and contemporary art. Founded in 2004, this museum contains permanent and temporary exhibition galleries, photography, design, architecture, new media, and cinema to share Turkey's artistic creativity and cultural identity with the world. While providing a venue for observing abstract artworks, landscape paintings, and watercolor works, the museum also hosts a cinema, a cafe, and a library for its visitors to make unforgettable memories. Istanbul Modern Art Museum has become a symbol of Istanbul, supporting artists in their original productions, preserving and displaying the cultural heritage of Turkey. Furthermore, making the presentation process of art accessible to all ages.

Pera Museum

Located in Taksim, Pera Museum was founded by Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation. There are three permanent exhibitions at the Pera Museum Istanbul: Orientalist paintings, Anatolian weights and measures, and Kutahya tiles and ceramics. According to visitor's comments, it has stated that the sectioning of each one into a different floor gives you a total change of scenery. The first section, Orientalist Paintings, consists of important works by European artists inspired by the Ottoman culture, including Osman Hamdi Bey's well-known artwork, The Tortoise Trainer. This section offers an opportunity to start a journey into the world of Osman Hamdi Bey through virtual reality. The museum is closed on Mondays, and the HES code is mandatory to enter.

Naval Museum

Being the first naval museum in Turkey, Istanbul Naval Museum is an interesting attraction for many. Speaking of its collections, the museum contains military artifacts from the Ottoman Navy which consists of approximately 20.000 objects. Five departments of the museum are open for visiting: Museum, Naval History Archive, Communication Department, Supply Department, and Security-Service Department and waiting for its visitors from 9:00 to 17:00 hours but Mondays, New Year's Day, and the first day of religious holidays. The Naval Museum became recognizable after being awarded the Certificate of Excellence, which is given because of the large number of positive reviews, making the museum honored by visitors with stellar recognition.

Istanbul Archaeology Museums

Deputy Director of the Istanbul Archaeological Museum once said, "It will be a Museum with no Physical and Communication Barriers'. The museum can be visited between 9 am - 10 pm in the summer season and between 9 am - 5 pm in the winter season. Consisting of three museums: the Museum of Archaeology, the ancient Orient, and the Tiled Pavillion, the Istanbul Archeology Museum is housed in three buildings close to the Topkapi Palace. The importance of the museum is coming from being the is first regular museum appearing in the history of the Ottoman Empire and Turkey.

The museum building is considered one of the most sumptuous examples of neo-classical architecture located in Istanbul. The idea of establishing a museum that will contain an immense collection of artifacts from many cultures from the vast former territories of the Ottoman Empire; belonged to the Ottoman sultan Abdülaziz after he visits archaeological museums in Paris, London, and Vienna. The construction was started by Osman Hamdi Bey, master painter ("The Tortoise Trainer" / Pera Museum) and archeologist at the Academy of Fine Arts, also known as Sanayi-i Nefise school.

Istanbul Toy Museum

Istanbul Toy Museum is a museum located in the Göztepe neighborhood of Kadıköy district, founded by the Turkish poet and novelist, Sunay Akın, in 2005. When Sunay Akin started writing a book named Kirdigimiz Oyuncaklar that translates to The Toys We Break, he came up with the idea of establishing a museum that offers the history of the world to its visitors with toys that date back nearly 200 years. The decoration of the museum was designed by the artist Ayhan Doğan, and the toys on display were purchased from auctions from over 40 countries by Sunay Akın himself.

The museum opened on April 23, a national holiday in Turkey which was celebrated as National Sovereignty and Children's Day, a national holiday dedicated to children of the country by Turkey's first president: Ataturk. Since its opening, the museum has been the perfect destination for different generations to spend time together and observe 4,000 toys and miniatures purchased from all around the world. As the founder of the museum, Sunay Akın, said: "Toys are a witness to their time. You see the history of humanity in a toy museum, from architecture to the conquest of space, from the Industrial Revolution to fashion." Another feature of the museum is its nomination for the annual European Museum Academy Children's Museum Award. The museum is open weekdays, 9:30-18:00, and on weekends, 9:30-19:00, ready to visit and observe.