In June 2008 the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry in cooperation with the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TURSAB) introduced the Museum Card (Müzekart) of Turkey. The holder of such a card (TL 20) has unlimited access to over 300 museums and ancient sites or ruins spread all over Turkey.

Why the Introduction of the Turkish Museum Card?

The Museum Card is one of the key elements in an attempt to increase social awareness among the Turkish citizens of the country’s rich cultural heritage, hence help to protect this millennia-old heritage. The obvious way to achieve this is by making visits to Turkey’s various museums more attractive and cheaper.

Normally the entrance fees of the various museums range between 1 and 20 TL, per person. But  now, with the introduction of the Müzekart, you pay an annual fee of TL 20 and obtain unlimited free access to over 300 museum nationwide.

How to Obtain the Müze Kart?

People can apply for the Museum Card online or at the following locations in Istanbul:

• Topkapi Palace (Topkapı Sarayı)
• Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya)
• Archaeology Museums (Arkeoloji Müzeleri)
• Kariye Museum (Kariye Müzesi)

Can Foreigners Buy a Turkish Museum Card?

I have good and bad news. Let me start with the bad news. Until further notice, the Museum Card is only available to Turkish citizens.
However, the good news is that when I called the Ministry of Turkish Culture and Tourism today, the spokesperson said that it would be made available to tourists in the near future as well. Unfortunately she couldn’t confirm whether this would happen before this summer.

I of course will let you know the moment foreigners can apply for the Turkish Museum Card as well.

No related posts.

The Haghia Eirene or Hagia Irene (Aya İrini Kilisesi) is a former Orthodox church and the first church built in Constantinople. It is also the only church that was not turned into a mosque after the Ottomans conquered Istanbul in 1453. The Haghia Eirene served as the church of the Patriarchate before the Hagia Sophia was completed in 537. Just like all other monuments in Istanbul, it suffered damages and multiple metamorphoses.

The Haghia Eirene museum, located in the first courtyard of the Topkapi Palace and marked on the Map with Tourist Attractions in the Historical Part of Istanbul. It is open to the public. However, you have to be with a group of at least 10 people and you require special permission to be admitted. You can obtain this special permission from the Hagia Sophia directorate (Aya Sofya Müdürlüğü), who has his office right at the exit of the Hagia Sophia complex. Just ask the guard standing at the exit to guide you to the directorate’s manager.

History and Location of the Hagia Irene

The Hagia Sophia stands on what is believed to be the oldest site of Christian worship in Istanbul. Roman Emperor Constantine I ordered the church in the 4th century, making it the first church built in Constantinople. After being burned down during the Nike revolt in 532, Emperor Justinian I had the church restored in 548. By then the Patriarchate had already moved to the Hagia Sophia, which was completed in 537. Restorations were again required in the 8th century after severe damages caused by an earthquake.

After the Ottoman conquest of Istanbul in 1453, the Topkapi Palace walls enclosed the church. The Haghia Eirene, located in the first courtyard, was not converted into a mosque but used as an armory and booty warehouse by the Ottoman soldiers.
From the 1700’s onwards, the church has been a museum. It was repaired by Field Marshall Ahmed Fethi Paşa in 1846, became the first Turkish museum, and from 1908 until 1978 it was served as the Military Museum. Now the museum is under the control of the Turkish Ministry of Culture.

Characteristics of the Hagia Irene

The church measures 100 by 32 meters, with a 15m wide and 35m high dome. Inside are some fascinating features. It still has its original atrium, five rows with built-in seats embracing the apse, and a great simple black cross on a gold background in the half-dome above the main narthex, which dates back from the Iconoclastic period when all figurative images were forbidden. These features didn’t survive in other Byzantine churches of Istanbul.

Today, due to its extraordinary acoustic characteristics and impressive atmosphere, the museum is the setting for classical music concerts during the Istanbul Music Festival.

No related posts.

I’m sure a visit to Istanbul’s Archaeology Museums (Arkeoloji Müzeleri) is not exactly what you have in mind while planning your city trip.
But you should definitely consider adding this stunning complex of museums to your to-do list. For two reasons: its overwhelming state of the art antiquities collection spanning over 5000 years, and the fact that the items for once are well-lit and well-labeled.

Archaeology Museums (Arkeoloji Müzeleri)
Location
Osman Hamdi Bey Yokuşu, Eminönü (down the slope at the left in Topkapi Palace’s first courtyard).
Tel: +90 212 520 77 40
on Map with Tourist Attractions in the Historical Part of Istanbul
Open
Daily between 09.00 and 17.00 (no entrance after 16.00). Closed on Monday. On the first day of religious holidays, the museum is closed until 12.00.
Ticket Sales
The entrance fee is TL 10. Credit cards are accepted.

Three Buildings

Istanbul Archaeology Museums actually consists of three museums in one complex: the Museum of Ancient Orient (Eski Şark Eserleri Müzesi), the Tiled Pavilion Museum (Çinili Köşk Müzesi) and the Archaeology Museum (Arkeoloji Müzesi) itself residing in the main building.

The main building was commissioned by archaeologist and painter Osman Hamdi (1881-1910). Late 19th century, the museum was founded to stop the flow of artifacts from the empire to Europe and house his discoveries. Osman Hamdi became the museum director. Soon after the inauguration, local governors spread out over the Ottoman Empire sent in a huge amount of objects. Today the museums have one of the world’s richest collections of classical artifacts on display. (also see the Archaeology Museums picture gallery)

Museum of the Ancient Orient

The Museum of the Ancient Orient is the first building on your left upon entering the museum complex. The building, built in 1883, houses pieces from the pre-Islamic Arabian peninsula, Mesopotamia (currently Iraq), Egypt and Anatolia (mainly Hittite empires). Don’t miss:

• a Hittite copy of the famous Treaty of Kadesh (1269) between the Egyptian and the Hittite empires
• the Ishtar gate of ancient Babylon, dating back to reign of Nebuchadnezzar II
• the glazed brick panels depicting various animals

Archaeology Museum

The Archaeology Museum is located in the biggest building in the complex and consists of four floors:

• ground floor: (of the old building) classical archaeology, featuring a collection of Hellenic, Hellenistic and Roman statuary and sarcophagi (in the old building). Don’t miss:
  • a Roman statue of Bes, half-god of inexhaustible power and strength and the protector against evil.
  • a group of sarcophagi from the Royal Necropolis of Sidon, unearthed in 1887
  • the Alexander Sarcophagus (4th century B.C.), depicting him battling the Persians as well as a hunting scene
  • the Sarcophagus of the Mourning Women

• ground floor: Thracian, Bithynian and Byzantine collections and the children’s museum, containing a huge Trojan Horse they can climb into

• first floor: Istanbul through the ages. A nice chronological overview of Istanbul’s archaeological past. Don’t miss:
  • one of the three bronze snake heads from the now headless Serpentine Column at the Hippodrome
  • a part of the iron chain hung across the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn during the Byzantine Empire to stop hostile ships form entering
  • a bell (14th century) from the Galata Tower

• second floor: collections from Anatolia and Troy
• third floor: Anatolia’s neighboring cultures, a gallery devoted to Cyprus and Syria-Palestine

Tiled Pavilion Museum

The third and last building in the complex is the tiled kiosk of Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror. The kiosk was built in 1472 and is one of the oldest examples of Ottoman civil architecture in Istanbul. The collection, on display in the six rooms and saloon, consists of various chinaware and ceramics from the Seljuk and Ottoman period.

Help, I’m on a Tight Schedule

If you want to see every item on display and read the excellent accompanying explanatory labels in both English and Turkish, you’ll need more than one day. So if you’re pressed for time, make sure you at least visit the breathtaking sarcophagi and Istanbul through the ages. If you have young children, also make a brief stop at their museum.

No related posts.

Taking a guided tour of the extravagant Dolmabahçe Palace (Dolmabahçe Sarayı) in the modern part of Istanbul will undoubtedly leave a big impression. Below you find a video of the guided Selamlık tour.

There are two versions available: a YouTube version (smaller in size) and a WVM version (bigger in size). The length of both movies is the same: 3:57 min.

Enjoy!

YouTube Version

Local Version

No related posts.

In order to visit the Dolmabahçe Palace (Dolmabahçe Sarayı) you must take one or both of the guided tours. The Selamlık tour takes you through the quarters reserved for men, while the Harem tour shows you the apartments of the sultan’s family.
Only a limited amount of people are allowed into each section per day, so make sure to check out the opening hours. If you only want to go on one tour, visit the Selamlık.

The entrance of the palace is located close to the clock tower, which was only added in 1895. You’ll find the ticket sales booth a bit further at the left. If you have some time to spare, you may want to wait for the change of the guard, which takes place every hour in summertime.

Once you entered the complex, enjoy the well-maintained gardens surrounding the palace as well as the magnificent Bosphorus views. Just before entering the palace itself, please note the working flower clock and beautiful Imperial Gate at the left. Once used by the sultan and his ministers, it’s every Tuesday afternoon the stage for a performance of the Mehter or Janissary Band.

Just outside the palace, a small sign will tell you when the next tour starts, Selamlık or Harem and whether it’s in Turkish or English. Normally these guided tours start every 25 minutes, but in busy periods they may raise the frequency. The tour itself progresses through the palace at a pretty high pace. Make sure you stay close to the guide if you want to hear what he or she has to say.

Selamlık Tour

The tour starts in the main entrance (medhal) hall where you’ll get some general instructions. Please notice the English chandelier with its sixty arms and the two large Turkish porcelain vases. The guide will then lead you through the secretariat’s room, the entrance hall and the exhibit hall, with all various precious gold, silver, porcelain and crystal items on display. But it’s after passing the palace’s mosque (mescit) and the resting room that things really start to get interesting.

You take the staircase, referred to as the crystal staircase because of its balustrade in Baccarat crystal, to the palace’s second floor. Prepare for an eye-popping experience when you enter the ambassador (süfera) hall, undoubtedly one of the most important rooms in the palace which used to host formal receptions and meetings. I still don’t know what was more impressive: the 88 square meter Iranian Tebriz carpet, the pair of bearskins (one a gift from the Russian Tsar Nicholas II, the other ordered to preserve symmetry), the silver clock from Egypt providing the correct time, date, air pressure and temperature, or the 2000 kg chandelier with matching crystal three meter high mirrors.

Impressed? Do try to keep up while the tour continues, because you ain’t seen nothing yet. You run out of superlatives while passing rooms like the privy chamber, offering some of the most beautiful parquet in the entire palace. Or the study room with its Steinway piano dating back to 1911. Not to mention the magnificent hamam and all the portraits and paintings you see along the way. (see the Dolmabahçe Palace video)

But all this is a mere prelude to the grand finale: the muyade hall. It covers approximately 2.000 square meters, is 36 meters high and has a dome with a diameter of 25 meters. The Hereke carpet on the floor is 124 m². But the masterpiece is without a doubt the English chandelier, built in 1853, holding 664 bulbs and weighing 4,5 tons. According to the guide, it’s still the world’s largest chandelier. (see picture gallery of Dolmabahçe Palace)

The room, capable of holding 2500 guests, was used to host all state ceremonies and receptions. It was also in this room that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk first spoke to the people of Istanbul as the President of the Turkish Republic. Following his death on November 10, 1938, Atatürk’s body was placed in a casket and remained in this room from 16 to 18 November. The room was opened for the public to express their condolences.

Harem Tour

Although it doesn’t have the same wow-factor as the Selamlık, the Harem is still worth touring. The apartments of the sultan and his family are, compared to the rest of the rooms in the Dolmabahçe Palace, less spacious.

The Harem consists of a series of salons, galleries and hamams and a post-circumcision resting hall. Especially noteworthy are the suite of the Valide Sultan (the sultan’s mother), the blue and pink salons, the bedroom of Sultan Abdül Aziz with the custom made bed to carry the 150 kg amateur wrestler, as well as the study and bedroom used by Atatürk.

No related posts.

Dolmabahçe Palace (Dolmabahçe Sarayı), Turkey’s largest mono-block palace, was commissioned by Sultan Abdül Mecit in 1843.
Built to belie the military and financial decline of the Ottoman Empire, Istanbul’s first European-style palace was an opulent one, excessive in size and filled with gold and crystal.

Dolmabahçe Palace (Dolmabahçe Sarayı)
Location
Dolmabahçe Caddesi, Beşiktaş (opposite the İnönü (Beşiktaş) football stadium).
Tel: +90 212 236 90 00
on Map with Tourist Attractions in the Modern Part of Istanbul
Open
Daily between 09.00 and 16.00. Closed on Monday, Thursday and January 1st. On the first day of religious holidays, the museum is closed all day.
Ticket Sales
Selamlık: TL 15, Harem: TL 10, Combined ticket: TL 20.
An extra TL 6 is charged if you want to use your photo-camera, TL 15 for a film or video camera. Credit cards are accepted.
Please note: daily only 1500 people are allowed inside each section!

Dolmabahçe Means Filled Garden

The area where the Dolmabahçe Palace now stands used to be a small bay of the Bosphorus. From the 18th century onwards, the bay was gradually filled to become an imperial garden by the Bosphorus. People referred to it as Dolmabahçe, literally meaning filled (dolma) garden (bahçe).
Since the sultans loved the site a lot, plenty of mansions (köşk) and pavilions (kasır) were built on that spot during the 18th and 19th centuries. Gradually this collection grew into a complex called the Beşiktaş Waterfront Palace, demolished by order of Sultan Abdül Mecit to make way for the Dolmabahçe Palace. He decided to move from Topkapi Palace to Dolmabahçe Palace since it would be able to provide ‘modern’ luxuries that Topkapi Palace lacked.

Extravagant Palace

The true reason behind the construction of Dolmabahçe Palace was to cover up that the Ottoman Empire was in decline. Therefore, the new palace had to be lavishly decorated to impress the world. It also had to break with the Ottoman tradition of constructing a series of pavilions, so he ordered the leading Ottoman architect Garabet Baylan and his son Nigoğayos to build a mono-block Ottoman-European palace. The construction began in 1843 and was finished in 1856.

The result is a two-floor palace, covering an area of 45.000 m², containing 285 rooms, 44 halls, 68 toilets and 6 baths (hamam). The design is a mixture of Baroque, Rococo, Neo-Classic and traditional Ottoman art and culture. Fourteen tons of gold were used to gild the ceilings. It also has the largest collection of Bohemian and Baccarat crystal chandeliers in the world. The price tag for all this: a staggering five million Ottoman gold coins, the current equivalent of 35 tons of gold. (See the Dolmabahçe Picture Gallery and video of Dolmabahçe Palace)

Six Sultans and Atatürk

Starting with the move of the administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from Topkapi Palace in 1856, until the abolishment of the caliphate in 1924, the Dolmabahçe Palace was home to six sultans. There was however a 20-year interval from 1889 to 1909 in which the Yıldız Palace was used.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, used the palace as a presidential house in the summer and enacted some of his most important works here, e.g. the introduction of the new alphabet. Troubled by health problems, he spent his last years in the palace until he died at 09.05 on November 10, 1938. In his honor, all the clocks in the palace are stopped at that exact time. The room in which he died is part of one of the palace tours.

Click here to read about the guided tours in Dolmabahçe Palace.

No related posts.

The Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya) is among Istanbul’s most famous and fascinating monuments. This ‘church of divine wisdom’ was inaugurated by Emperor Justinian on 26 December 537, converted into a mosque in 1453 and declared a museum in 1934.
It is among the world’s greatest architectural achievements, in particular famous for its massive dome, and considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture.

Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya)
Location
Sultanahmet Meydanı, Sultanahmet.
Tel: +90 212 522 17 50
on Map with Tourist Attractions in the Historical Part of Istanbul
Open
Daily between 09.00 and 17.00. Closed on Monday. On the first day of religious holidays, the museum is closed until 13.00.
Ticket Sales
The entrance fee is TL 20.
Credit cards are accepted.

Third church on exact same spot

The current building was constructed on the site of Byzantium’s acropolis, at the exact same spot where two earlier Hagia Sophias stood. The first was built as a traditional Latin colonnade basilica with galleries and a timber roof, inaugurated on 15 February 360 by Constantius II. It burned down during a riot in 404.

Theodosius II, who inaugurated it on 10 October 405, commissioned the second version. It burned down to the ground during the Nika riots in 532, leaving only several marble blocks which can still be seen in the garden of today’s version.
Only a few days after the destruction of the second Hagia Sophia, Emperor Justinian decided to build the current version, which had to be larger and more majestic than its predecessors.

Dome

Justinian’s cathedral dwarfed all other buildings and was topped by the largest dome ever constructed. A record it held until the arrival of Michelangelo’s dome on top of the St. Peter’s Basilica. When I entered the Hagia Sophia’s nave for the first time, I was caught breathless and must have looked perplexed.

Inside view of the Haghia Sophia

Breathless because this enormous dome (31,24 meters) sits 55,6 meters above your head. It was once covered with 30 million gold mosaic tiles and is currently decorated with Koranic inscriptions. Perplexed since this vast dome seems rendered weightless by the unbroken arcade of 40 arched windows under it. An architectural achievement that remains unequalled. (see pictures of the Hagia Sophia)

The original dome collapsed completely during the earthquake of 7 May 558. The emperor ordered an immediate restoration, and lighter materials were used. It was so thin that the hundreds of candles hung high within the Hagia Sophia would cause it to glow at night.
Throughout history, the church needed several extra reinforcement and restorations, not in the least after the great fire of 859 and the earthquakes in 869 and 989.

The Fourth Crusade

The Hagia Sophia was the seat of the Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople. The church was also home to a vast amount of relics, such as a stone of the tomb of Jesus, the lance that pierced Jesus’ side, the shroud of Jesus, fragments of the True Cross, St Thomas’ doubting finger and bones of several saints. All of this was lost with the capture of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade, when the Hagia Sophia was looted and desecrated.

Mosque

Thanks to the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453, further demolition of the Hagia Sophia was avoided. It was lost to Christianity though, because Sultan Mehmet II ordered the immediate cleanup of the church and had it converted into a mosque. The Christian mosaics were plastered over and minarets were added, of which two by the architect Sinan. The only two of the four minarets that are matching.

Other additions include colossal candles (flanking the mihrab) Suleiman the Magnificent brought back from his conquest of Hungary, eight calligraphic roundels, the sultan’s gallery, a minbar, two immense Hellenistic urns, a medrese, a library and a fountain for ritual ablutions (Şadırvan).

Museum

After the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the establishment of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder and first president of the Turkish Republic, transformed the Hagia Sophia into a museum. The plastered over extraordinary interior mosaics, accidentally discovered during renovations in the 19th century, are slowly but surely restored. (see video of the Hagia Sophia)

The first of the surviving Byzantine mosaics can be seen over the Imperial Gate, showing Christ on a throne with an emperor kneeling beside him.

Still on the ground floor, there is the beautiful mosaic of the Virgin with Constantine and Justinian. It shows Mary seated on a throne holding the infant Jesus and flanked by two of the greatest emperors of the city.

A ramp leads from the ground floor to the gallery, where you can find the mosaics of Emperor Alexander holding a skull, the Virgin holding Christ flanked by Emperor John II Comnenus and Empress Irene, Christ with Emperor Constantine IX Monomachus and Empress Zoe, the Virgin with the infant Jesus on her lap, the archangels Gabriel and Michael, portraits of saints, the Deesis mosaic and the ones of the six-winged seraphim.

Unfortunately, necessary restoration of the Hagia Sophia seems to be a never-ending story, so be prepared to see scaffoldings.

No related posts.