We look at Turkey’s best museums, where everyone who loves to explore the riches of history as well as the modern age can find something for themselves.
As the cradle of civilizations that shaped history, our country continues to attract the attention of archaeologists from all over the world. Thousands of historical artifacts worth seeing are exhibited in our museums. Celebrated every year between May 18-24, Museums Week brings together must-see museums in Turkey and culture and art lovers. Moreover, many museums affiliated to the Ministry of Culture and those with private museum status offer special discounts for the May 18-24 Week.
Istanbul Archaeological Museums – Istanbul
Turkey’s first museum, Istanbul Archaeological Museums has been exhibiting nearly one million artifacts from various cultures since 1891. The museum complex, which consists of three main units: the Archaeology Museum, the Museum of Ancient Oriental Art and the Tiled Pavilion Museum, welcomes thousands of guests from all over the world every year. In this magnificent museum, there are magnificent artifacts such as the Sarcophagus of Alexander, the Lycian Sarcophagus, the Sarcophagus of Weeping Women and the Tabnit Sarcophagus.
Topkapi Palace Museum – Istanbul
Built in 1453 after Mehmet the Conqueror’s conquest of Istanbul, Topkapı Palace has been hosting its guests as a museum where the ancient Ottoman history is exhibited since 1924. The museum, which is among the historical buildings that many local and foreign tourists show the most interest in the city, has an area of eighty thousand square meters. From the Harem Section to the Arz Room, from the Baghdad Pavilion to the Kubbealtı, many important sections are visited. In addition to the personal belongings of the sultans, many pieces of high historical value are hosted here.
Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art – Istanbul
Consisting of artifacts collected from different corners of the Islamic world, the museum exhibits rare pieces from the Abbasid, Mamluk, Seljuk and Ottoman periods. The Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art, which has one of the best carpet collections in the world, also features manuscripts. There are also precious objects made of glass, stone, terracotta, metal and ceramics. The ethnography collection, which reflects the Turkish daily life of the last few centuries, is one of the areas of the museum that attracts great interest from visitors. The Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, one of our award-winning museums, won the Special Jury Prize in the Council of Europe Museum of the Year Competition in 1984 and the Council of Europe UNESCO Award for the Promotion of Cultural Heritage to Children in 1985.
Rahmi M. Koç Museum – Istanbul
Are you ready to take a little stroll through the industrial, communication and transportation details of history? Rahmi M. Koç Museum, which has a wonderful view on the shores of the Golden Horn, offers its guests a combination of culture and entertainment. Since 1994, the museum has been welcoming its guests with many details from submarine trips to airplanes, classic cars to nostalgic train tours. The museum, which holds the title of Turkey’s first industrial museum, has over 14 thousand pieces in its collection.
Istanbul Museum of Modern Art – Istanbul
As Turkey’s first modern and contemporary art museum, Istanbul Modern supports the global sharing of artistic production both in Turkey and in different geographies. Encouraging visitors of all ages to be curious about and engage with modern and contemporary art, the museum’s ground floor houses a library, educational workshops, café and shop, while the first floor houses a photography gallery, short-term exhibition hall and event rooms. The collection and temporary exhibition halls are located on the second floor.
Troy Museum – Çanakkale
The Troy Museum, one of the most important museums of our country, exhibits artifacts unearthed from the excavations of the ancient city of Troy, which contributed to an important period of history. Each floor of the museum, which consists of three floors, reflects a different period in the history of Troy and each floor is reached by climbing ramps. From the statuette of the Mother Goddess Cybele to the Altıkulaç Sarcophagus; from the Sarcophagus of Polyksena to the treasures of Troy, many interesting artifacts are exhibited here. The Troy Museum, which became one of our award-winning museums shortly after its opening, won the European Museum of the Year Special Award, one of the most prestigious museum awards given by the European Museum Forum-EMF in 2020.
Ephesus Museum – Izmir
The Ephesus Museum, which has the status of an archaeology and ethnography museum, exhibits artifacts from the ancient city of Ephesus and the surrounding settlements. Among the most striking artifacts in the museum with a very rich collection is the Statue of Artemis. It is home to more than 64 thousand artifacts of many civilizations belonging to the Mycenaean, Archaic, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman periods respectively.
Bodrum Underwater Archaeology Museum – Muğla
Located in Bodrum Castle, the museum is home to the world’s oldest sunken shipwreck. Bodrum Underwater Archaeology Museum, which meets art lovers with its different nature and unique ambiance, consists of 14 sections. Those who enjoy exploring should definitely visit the building, which is considered the largest underwater museum in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Odunpazari Modern Museum – Eskişehir
Designed with reference to the traditional architecture of Odunpazarı and Ottoman dome architecture, Odunpazarı Modern Museum is located as a 4500 m2 contemporary art space. The museum, which is located at the focal point of the city with its wooden building system referring to the texture of historical Odunpazarı houses and its remarkable architecture, won the ‘Special Recognition Award’ at the European Museum of the Year Awards (EMYA) 2021. The building includes exhibition and workshop areas, a café and a museum shop spread over three floors by letting in daylight.
Museum of Anatolian Civilizations – Ankara
Located within the walls of Ankara Castle, the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations houses the artifacts of civilizations that have been in Anatolia since the Paleolithic Age. Consisting of two historical buildings, the museum takes you on a historical journey with animation, virtual tour, replicas of Göbeklitepe’s T-shaped pillars and other artifacts. The museum, which is visited with interest by many local and foreign tourists every year, is one of the few museums in the world thanks to its unique collections.
Ankara Ethnography Museum – Ankara
Ankara Ethnography Museum, which includes Turkish artworks from the Seljuk State to the present day, includes many works such as weaving art and mining works. If you want to see the most valuable artifacts from the history of Anatolian handicrafts, you should definitely visit this museum.
Ankara Republic Museum – Ankara
Ankara Republic Museum is a great choice to watch how the Republic of Turkey was founded with its documents. Moreover, considering that the building of the 2nd Turkish Grand National Assembly serves as the museum building, you can feel yourself living history during your visit. Events, photographs, parliamentary decisions and exhibitions reflecting the periods of the first three presidents of our country, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, İsmet İnönü and Celal Bayar, as well as the personal belongings of the presidents are exhibited. Among the artifacts, the microphone with which Atatürk read the 10th Year Speech is also on display.
Çorum Museum – Çorum
Çorum Museum, which attracts attention primarily with its building, is registered as an “Immovable Cultural Property in Need of Protection”. In the archaeological and ethnographic salons of the museum, Hittite artifacts from the excavations of Boğazköy, Alacahöyük, Ortaköy and Eskiyapar are exhibited. You can observe the period closely by taking a ride in the Hittite City with the Hittite chariot simulation.
Mevlana Museum – Konya
Mevlana Museum, which ranks first among the most valuable values of Konya, is flooded with local and foreign visitors at all times of the year. In the building, which is one of the most visited museums today, there are many important pieces such as the tomb of Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi, known as Kubbe-i Harda, the Green Dome, valuable manuscripts, dervish lodge items, and the sphere used during astronomy lessons.
Antalya Museum – Antalya
The sculptures unearthed from the ancient city of Perge attract the most attention at the Antalya Museum, which reflects a long period from the Lower Paleolithic Age to the Roman Period. The museum, which is dedicated to the three important ancient civilizations that developed within the borders of the city; Lycia, Pamphylia and Pisidia, won the “Council of Europe Museum of the Year” award in 1988. Among the artifacts on display are the prehisteric collection, statues of gods and kings, tomb cults, mosaics and icons, as well as coins and objects made of precious metals.
Adana Archaeology Museum – Adana
Adana Archaeology Museum, one of the top ten oldest museums in Turkey, has a very distinguished collection. There are eight halls where human life from the prehistoric period to the present day is conveyed with the help of texts, visuals and dioramas. Starting from the prehistoric period, there are archaeological finds from the Hittite, Assyrian, Hellenic, Roman, Seljuk and Ottoman periods such as statues, sarcophagi, altars, busts, jewelry made of precious metals, seals and various tools and items used in daily life.
Zeugma Mosaic Museum – Gaziantep
Gaziantep Archeology Museum is one of our museums whose fame exceeds the borders of the country! The 2000-year-old mosaics fascinate those who see them. There are many remarkable works in the museum where mosaics, wall paintings, sculptures, columns and various other remains excavated from the ancient city of Zeugma in Nizip district, but especially the Gypsy Girl Mosaic welcomes visitors from all over the world. In the museum, which has a very rich collection in terms of subject and color diversity, three-dimensional mosaic designs convey the architecture and lifestyle of the period, which makes Zeugma one of the most important mosaic museums in the world.
Şanlıurfa Archaeology and Mosaic Museum – Şanlıurfa
Şanlıurfa Archaeology and Mosaic Museum, the largest museum in Turkey, has started to attract the attention of the whole world, especially after the discovery of Göbeklitepe. In addition to the artifacts belonging to Göbeklitepe, which changed the zero point of known history, it is also of international importance in terms of the Neolithic period. In the exhibition halls, surface finds and reenactments from the paleolithic period, the oldest known sculpture in human history, “Balıklıgöl Man” from the Neolithic period, and artifacts from the Chalcolithic, Bronze, Iron, Hellenic, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman periods are exhibited in historical order.
Mardin Museum – Mardin
Mardin Museum, which has archaeological and ethnographic collections reflecting the historical and cultural values of the region, is located among the historical Assyrian houses. The museum, which has artifacts reflecting the cultural richness of the city, includes pieces from the Bronze, Assyrian, Urartu, Greek, Persian, Hellenic, Roman, Byzantine, Great Seljuk, Artuqid and Ottoman periods.
BONUS! The Newest in the City
IBB Culture and Culture Digital Experience Museum – Istanbul
If you want to take your route beyond the usual museums, our recommendation is clear: IBB Kültür AŞ Digital Experience Museum! In the museum, which takes its guests beyond traditional museum visits, exhibitions are prepared with digital technologies and a multidisciplinary approach by pushing the boundaries of art and technology. Thanks to the technological methods used from virtual reality to augmented reality, visitors experience direct communication and interaction with the artworks. Moreover, the interactive designs and software presented here are prepared by Turkish software developers and designers.
