5 museums to visit in Istanbul

Do you want to travel an interesting journey to the past? This sounds appealing, right?  the best way to achieve so is through touring and visiting the museums in Istanbul city, which have unusual spirits and a unique theme. 

The Turkish-Ottoman museums in this city are beyond comparison to any other civilization for what it comprises of the ancient and fascinating history and rare historical monuments, The Turkish-Ottoman history is one of the most prominent civilizations in the world. so to discover the museum's options in the city of Istanbul scroll down and let’s start our time travel journey.

Whether you’re searching for a castle/church/mosque/palace, amazing museums, history, fine classic artists, simultaneous, fine, and contemporary art, or permanent exhibitions, you can discover the most visited and well-known ones on our menu below.


1- Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque (formerly museum):
Location: Sultanahmet, Fatih, European side

Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque formerly was a church during the Byzantine rule for Turkey (Constantinople), and museum during the republican era rule for Turkey, now become a mosque, Hagia Sophia counted as one of the world’s greatest imperishable architectural masterpiece work and accepted as the 8th wonder of the world, where you can see, feel, live within the history of the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman Empires.

Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque has one of the most comfortable spiritual atmospheres, where you can find The mosaic picture of the Virgin Mary, next to the name of God (Allah), and also the Prophet Muhammad, all in one place, under one roof, without any religious or ethnic distinction.

Now it’s free of charge entering, for all the nationalities, and different religious background, but for sure, the non-muslims should take into consideration to adopt the modest-fashion as possible, for both gender, plus to respect and commit to don't cross the dedicated places for non-muslims people, therefore non-muslims are expected to respect the general rules of the Islamic prayers during the day, hence to don't make any noise during the prayers, or to take a picture without taking permission first, Due to the Turkish consideration, that is counted filming without prior permission, a breach of privacy, especially in places of worship, whether it is a mosque or a church.


2- Topkapi Palace Museum:
Location: Sultanahmet, Fatih, European side

One of the world’s most generous, richest museums in Istanbul, moreover it has the most magnificent architectural external and internal design, Topkapi Palace was the former residency of the Ottoman emperors, one of the most famous Ottoman sultans who resided in the palace was Sultan Selim the Magnificent, his life story was presented by several Turkish series and obviously attracted a million tourists yearly to visit the Museum.

The palace has four internal courtyards, terraces with extraordinary views over the Bosphorus and the city, as well as precious historical-religious collections which are dated back to before Christ, it's undoubtedly one of the topmost tourist attractions, which you don't want to miss.

3-  Istanbul Archaeology Museums
Location: Sultanahmet, Fatih, European side

Composed of three museums (museum of Archaeology, the classical Orient, and the marble-tiled suite) all that within one site, one of the most valuable and remarkable archaeology museums in the world, it is contains an enormous number of collections, that dated back to the oldest civilizations such as Alexander the great Macedonian who ruled the world, where the center of his dominion rule was in the heart of Constantinople, BC, it makes you understand how far humans came, and see the gathering collection of prehistoric, for several glorious civilizations such as the: Sumerian, Egyptian, Greek, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman antiquities, sculptures, and sarcophagi.

4- Dolmabahce Palace Museum
Location: Kabatas-Besiktas, European side

One of the most magnificent palaces established on the banks of Bosphorus in Besiktas. The internal and external architectural palace building is a spectacular masterpiece. The palace includes more than 50,000 masterwork objects within its hundreds of rooms.

The internal architectural design of the palace reveals the glory of the era in which the palace was built the architectural code of the place is influenced by the luxurious European palaces style.

Palace was also the former residency of the Ottoman emperors, one of the most famous Ottoman sultans who resided in the palace was Sultan Abdulhamid the second, who was born and lived in the palace during his youth, to move later to Yildizsaray once he become the 34th Ottoman Sultan.


And for those who might be interested in the republican era of Turkey, you should know that the founder of the Turkish republic (Mustafa Kemal Ataturk) lived in Dolmabahce Palace, and died in the palace, the room where he died is open to visitors.


5- Istanbul Modern Art Museum
Location: Beyoglu, the European side

Istanbul Modern Art Museum is a  museum of modern and contemporary fine art, Opened in December 2004, and since then and the museum has been hosting permanent and temporary exhibition exhibits, also it has had a dedicated division for the photography gallery, a cinema theater, several fine restaurants which has such a contemporary fine atmosphere to dine in, plus a design store which is offering an educational course for art lovers, and library that considered one of the richest libraries in Istanbul in terms of art dictionary and references.