Istanbul has a museum like no other in the world!

Turkish Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk says museums have the power to bring the past to the present. Or more simply, museums transform time into space... I believe that the museum of the future will also speak to smaller, more personal, more intimate individuals.

You must have heard of the Istanbul Archaeological Museum! May I recommend the Archaeological Museum, which stands unobtrusively next to the flagship Topkapi Palace.

From Ancient Greece, ancient Rome to Turkey's collection of cultural relics, including Alexander sarcophagus, Apollo statues, ancient Greek sculptures and many cultural relics, feel the millennium civilization, super recommended!

The outdoor stone sarcophagus of ancient Greece and Rome, the indoor statues, coffins, ceramics, iron, gold, etc., the museum has a collection of more than one million cultural relics, showing a large number of precious cultural relics of Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Hattitian and Hittite civilizations. What shocked me most was the several coffins in the left exhibition hall on the first floor, the treasure of the museum, which was really exquisite, just like a large artwork.

Because the door had just opened, I was the only visitor, and the quiet in the exhibition hall was a little scary. When I turned around in the middle of the visit, I suddenly found a stone-faced and silent staff member sitting in the dark corner, which was really surprised.

On the left hand side of the first floor is the treasure of the town hall! The coffin of Alexander the Great (exquisitely sculpted), the coffin of a mournful woman deity,There is a side hall at the end of the stairs on the right hand side, which I feel is the most worth watching! Statues of ancient Greek gods and goddesses, stories of which you have only heard in books, are well-placed and carved into stone to witness the wonders of history as they travel through the centuries AD.




In the garden, there are also stone pillars and statues from the ancient Greek and Roman periods, and with green plants and cats, it is hard to imagine that the civilization of BC and modern times have been integrated and even preserved.

The treasure of the three towns Pavilion

1 Alexander sarcophagus is the only sarcophagus protected by glass in the whole museum, which is well preserved, and the relief and even the color of the sarcophagus are still retained. Made in 305 BC, found in the Sidon region of Lebanon, the stone pavilion is famous for its depiction of Alexander the Great's battle against Persia.

2 Mournful woman sarcophagus
Eighteen women with sad expressions and different poses stand among the pillars of a Greek Ionian temple.

3 Tabit sarcophagus
Carved in the 6th century BC, the black diorite, the sarcophagus of an Egyptian general, inscribed with a spell, was exhumed intact, and the mummy (p5) buried inside, not stolen, is on display in the archaeological museum at the same time as the sarcophagus.

The imagination of Istanbul, more from Pamuk, from "Red", "Istanbul: the memory of a city" to "Museum of Innocence", his crowded streets, muddy slopes, mysterious miniatures and the Bosphorus Strait, full of ambiguity and contradiction, only "Museum of Innocence" wrote a delicate sad love story, but also the trip to the place.

The Museum of Innocence is a museum built by Pamuk based on his novel of the same name. He bought the house and converted it into a museum, which displays various objects and scenes mentioned in the novel. It may be the only museum based on a novel. Between the false and the real, let us have a deeper understanding of this story and Istanbul at that time. The story is about the rich family Kemal fell in love with a civilian girl Fusong on the day of engagement. Pamuk described Kemal's deep love for Fusong in the first person, the struggle between love and marriage, the pain after losing Fusong, and the pathological struggle of constant self-hypnosis. At the same time, it also reflected Istanbul's treatment of class, premarital cohabit and other issues. The conflict of ideas in the process of localization and Europeanization. Different age reading will have different perceptions, read the book before going to the museum is better.

The Museum of Innocence has a total of five floors and contains 83 display cases corresponding to 83 chapters of the novel. The first floor is the foyer, the entrance to the display of Kemal's collection of 4,213 cigarette butts, each handwritten note, very shocking; The second and third floors (boxes 1-79) are the main exhibition halls, displaying various objects mentioned in the novel; The fourth floor (80-83) houses Kemal's bedroom and Pamuk's manuscripts; On the ground floor is the shop. A visit to the Museum of Innocence is a way to relive the story, with the creamy Jeni Koln bag that brought them together, the missing earrings that Ferson lost, the various items in the Mehmet apartment where they secretly met, the pearl earrings that Kemal's father symbolized his love, the Meltime soda, In order to get over the pain of losing Fushun, there are maps in red and yellow that are forbidden to go near the street, and there are Fushun's dress, driver's license, brooch, shoes, and various objects that he touched.




Along the way to visit, full of exploration, memories, feelings and moved, if your peers have also read this book, while visiting and quietly discussing, it will be particularly interesting. At the end of the walk, on the bedroom wall, see Kemal's words "Let everyone know, I lived a very happy life.", straight to the heart, Pamuk is too good.

In addition to the Museum of Innocence, which was born with the writing of Pamuk's Museum of Innocence, there is a very lovely, personal museum in Turkey, and it is also very fun! Let's go and hang out!

The Istanbul Toy Museum, founded by poet and writer Sunay Akn, opened to visitors on 23 April 2005 (National Sovereignty Day and Children's Day in Turkey).

The toys on display at the museum were acquired from auctions around the world or purchased from antique dealers. When the museum opened, its toy collection was about 1,000 pieces; it has now grown to 4,000. The toys on display were purchased with royalties earned through Mr. Sunay's personal efforts, and some are stage and theatrical toys.

Each room in the museum looks like a theater stage designed by artist Ehan Doan. The museum became a member of the International Council of Museums in 2009 and began participating in the European Museum Forum. In 2010 and 2011, it was nominated for an award in the "Best Museum in Europe" competition.


One of the most important features of the Istanbul Toy Museum is that it embraces all members of a family, where three generations of a family can have a good time and share common happiness.

Grandparents, father/mother, and grandchildren are transported back to their childhood together in a time machine that tells them about their childhood. The hallways of the Toy Museum echo with "I had that toy too!" The voice, followed by the story of childhood memories...

There are also social Spaces such as a theater, breakfast restaurant and coffee shop, and various cultural activities are organized regularly.

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