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 a lot of the world’s greatest empires including the Ottoman Empire, the Roman Empire, the Seljuk Empire, etc.
The long history and rich culture of Turkey gave this country great potential to build museums and invest in this part of the culture. There are different ways to inform yourselves 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 and every one of them is for educating tourists on one part of Turkey’s culture and history. In this article, we want to introduce some of Turkey’s most popular museums and give a brief profile of every one of them. We tried to pick an example from different museums with various categories so you will choose the one with the information you are looking for.
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 got inaugurated in the year 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.
The building of this museum was actually a small palace for Sultan Ahmad to escape the pressure of the day and spend a relaxing time before or after praying. The carpets are located in rooms that the sultans (kings) would rest or relax in.
It is recommended that you book your visit online before you go down there because there’s a small chance that 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 that was built by the artist Osman Hamdi Bey in the 19th century.
This museum holds a great deal of Turkey’s most valuable treasures from the past. the items in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum are not only valuable to Turkey but to the entire world and one of the greatest archaeological museums in the world.
The Istanbul Archaeology Museum goes back to the year 1869 and it has been teaching people about the history of Turkey since then.
Zeugma Mosaic Museum
Zeugma Mosaic Museum is another museum among Turkey’s best museums that you shouldn’t miss as a tourist. This museum is located in Istanbul city and the idea came after the archaeological search and digs in the year 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 the year 1997 and has been working since then.
The mosaics are from the biggest castle of Constantinople city in the Roman Empire. They are presenting pictures and painting with subjects like lifestyle in those days, nature, mythology, etc.
Topkapi Palace Museum
One of the historical museums of Turkey is located in Istanbul city known by the name Topkapi Palace Museum. This museum is located in the Topkapi Palace which is a palace more than 500 years old. Even with no museum, this palace is a great historical site that has so much to offer.
You can see a glimpse of every Middle Eastern country’s art and culture in 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 greatest underwater museums. In this museum, you can see the treasures found underwater from ancient shipwrecks.
Despite that, there is a large collection of glass objects and artifacts from Islamic culture.
Mevlana Museum
Mevlana is an Iranian poet and Dervish that holds a great part of Iran’s culture. Mevlana is one of the most popular people in the history of Iran that is a symbol of this country’s culture and heritage. The Mevlana tomb and museum are located in one of Turkey’s cities called 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 that is known as the Mevlana’s ship, plates, musical instruments, etc.
There are some events held in this museum and mansion that Dervishes from all around Turkey come together to pray and do some cultural and religious rites.
Pera Museum
Pera museum is an art museum in Istanbul city. 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 Pera Museum belonged to Bristol Hotel from the year 1893 to 2005. In the year 2005 after years of abandonment, it turned into a museum and it is one of the best museums in Turkey.
Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts
If you want to gain more information about the culture and history of both Turkey and Islam, you should go to the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts in Istanbul city.
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, handicrafts made of wood and glass, etc.
Rahmi M.Koc Museum
In the year 1991, a person named 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 Rahmi M.Koc Museum in the year 1994. You can see a great collection of motorcycles and cars in this museum in Istanbul city.
Every year a lot of 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 popular museums. But the fact is that due to the rich culture and history there are a lot of museums in Turkey that 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 own subject. Hope this article helps you plan a better trip to Turkey.
