Turkey is a country with more than 2000 years of history. Turkey is located in the Middle East and some parts of Europe. This country carries the memory of many of the world’s greatest empires, including the Ottoman Empire, the Roman Empire, the Seljuk Empire, etc.
Turkey’s long history and rich culture gave this country great potential to build museums and invest in this part of the culture. There are different ways to learn about the history and culture of every land. One of these several ways is a museum. In a museum, you will see organized information on a particular subject with objects and symbols to support the information.
There are hundreds of museums in Turkey; everyone is intended to educate tourists on one part of Turkey’s culture and history. In this article, we want to introduce some of Turkey’s most famous museums and give a brief profile of every one of them. We tried to pick examples from different museums with various categories, so you will choose the one with the information you seek.
Chora Museum
Chora Museum is originally a church from the Byzantine Empire located in the Fatih area in Istanbul. The building of Chora Church goes back to the beginning of the 4th century. After that, in the 16th century, when the Ottomans were in charge of Turkey, it changed into a mosque. The museum was inaugurated in 1948 and continued its work until this day.
Carpet Museum in Istanbul
The Carpet and Kilim Museum of Istanbul is a beautiful collection of traditional Turkish carpets from the 14th century to the contemporary years.
This museum’s building was a small palace for Sultan Ahmad to escape the day’s pressure and relax before or after praying. The carpets are in rooms where the sultans (kings) would rest or relax.
It is recommended that you book your visit online before you go there because there’s a slight chance you won’t be able to visit the museum on crowded days.
Istanbul Archaeology Museum
This is one of the most valuable museums in Turkey, and it was built by the artist Osman Hamdi Bey in the 19th century.
This museum holds many of Turkey’s most valuable treasures from the past. The items in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum are valuable to Turkey and the world, and one of the most excellent archaeological museums in the world.
The Istanbul Archaeology Museum goes back to 1869 and has taught people about Turkey’s history since then.
Zeugma Mosaic Museum
Zeugma Mosaic Museum is among Turkey’s best museums; you should use it as a tourist. This museum is located in Istanbul, and the idea came after the archaeological search and digs in 1921. The digging continued from 1935 to 1951, and after that, a grand yard and castle decorated and designed with mosaics were discovered. The museum was inaugurated in 1997 and has been working since then.
The mosaics are from a giant castle in Constantinople, a city in the Roman Empire. They present pictures and paintings with subjects like lifestyle in those days, nature, mythology, etc.
Topkapi Palace Museum
One of Turkey’s historical museums, the Topkapi Palace Museum, is in Istanbul. This museum is located in the Topkapi Palace, which is a palace more than 500 years old. Despite no museum, this palace is a great historical site with much to offer.
You can see Middle Eastern art and culture at the Topkapi Palace Museum. You can see treasures like jewelry, clothes, sword, etc from the Ottoman Empire.
Bodrum Museum Of Underwater Archaeology
The underwater museum in Bodrum city in Turkey is one of the world’s most excellent. In this museum, you can see the underwater treasures from ancient shipwrecks.
Despite that, there is an extensive collection of glass objects and artifacts from Islamic culture.
Mevlana Museum
Mevlana is an Iranian poet and Dervish who holds much of culture. Mevlana is one of the most famous people in Iran’s history, symbolizing this country’s culture and heritage. The Mevlana tomb and museum are located in one of Turkey’s cities, Konya.
Nowadays, this tomb has become a famous place for tourists to visit. Over 1.5 million visitors go to visit this museum. You can see handwritten books, a wooden boat known as the Mevlana’s ship, plates, musical instruments, etc.
Some events are held in this museum and mansion where Dervishes from around Turkey come together to pray and perform cultural and religious rites.
Pera Museum
Pera Museum is an art museum in Istanbul. This museum in Turkey is most focused on orientalism in the latest centuries. Pera Museum has two permanent and temporary collections of artifacts and objects.
The building of the Pera Museum belonged to the Bristol Hotel from 1893 to 2005. In 2005, after years of abandonment, it turned into a museum, one of Turkey’s best museums.
Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts
It would be best to visit the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts in Istanbul to gain more information about the culture and history of Turkey and Islam.
This building is the last museum built by the Ottoman Empire. The Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts features a lot of artifacts from Turkish and Islamic heritage, including handwritten Qurans, ancient carpets, and handicrafts made of wood and glass.
Rahmi M.Koc Museum
In 1991, Rahmi M. Koc bought a building and decided to build his museum. He was interested in transportation and wanted to feature a collection of transportation devices. He spent three years collecting the items he wanted and inaugurated the Rahmi M.Koc Museum in 1994. You can see a great collection of motorcycles and cars in this museum in Istanbul city.
Every year, many travelers from around the world come to Turkey for vacation, and they are all looking for places to get more information about the history of Turkey and get attached to their culture. In this article, we tried to introduce some of Turkey’s most famous museums. However, due to the rich culture and history, there are a lot of museums in Turkey, and it is not easy to introduce every one of them. We picked 10 museums in Turkey from different categories that are the best in their subject. I hope this article helps you plan a better trip to Turkey.
