The Turkish and Islamic Art Museum is perhaps the most famous museum in Istanbul, it is filled with a lot of ancient things like carpets, statues, ceramics, photos and paintings. This beautiful museum is located in Sultanahmet Square, in the Eminönü district of Istanbul, and was built in the 16th century. The building was once the palace of Ibrahim Pasha, an important figure in the history of Istanbul, vizier during the reign of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.
This museum was established because the Turkish authorities were concerned that works of art of great historical interest, used in mosques and other important monuments, were not given proper protection. This concerned almost all works of art, but especially ancient carpets, documents and Quranic manuscripts, which were under constant threat, especially during the Second World War.
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Currently, the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts houses one of the largest, if not the largest, carpet collections in the world. This collection has been enriched with carpets from all over the world, but especially with carpets from Iran and the Caucasus. But the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art does not only house beautiful carpets, but also a large collection of Anatolian wood art from the 9th – 10th century, collections of stone art belonging to important artists such as Emevi, Abbasi, Memluk, Seljuk, Ottomans.
A rich collection ranging from prayer rugs to huge carpets dating from 15th to 17th century, some of them covering almost the entire wall.
There are also Muslim relics, such as an alleged lock of the beard of the Prophet Muhammad. There are also copies of the Qur’an, which are considered the oldest copies of the book written in the early Islamic period, from the 7th to the 20th century, as well as ceramics from the early Islamic period and glasses belonging to the Anatolian principalities. as well as many documents dating from the pre-Ottoman period.
How to get to the museum
The nearest train station is Sultanahmet.
Opening hours: 9 am to 7 pm (April to September), 9 am to 5 pm (October to April)
Price: 75 TL (4 €)
Binbirdirek, Atmeydanı Cd. No:12, 34122 Fatih/İstanbul, Turkey
https://goo.gl/maps/RsDr5AFLooZNPYoT7
