Hi! Today we will continue our virtual tour around the territory of the Archaeological Museum of ancient Istanbul. Just to remind you, in the previous article I talked about the history of this exhibition space. Today, I would like to focus on the halls of the main building of the museum and visiting the Tiled Kiosk located here.
The main building of the Istanbul Archaeological Museum
The main building of the Istanbul Archaeological Museum was opened in June 1891. The architect who built this grand neoclassical building was inspired by details from the Sarcophagus of the Mourning Women when creating the construction project. We can see this landmark among the museum exhibits.
The museum's main building consists of two floors with 36 halls, each containing stands with interesting information. Exhibition spaces are divided by periods and categories. The names of the museum halls speak for themselves: "Ancient Architecture of Anatolia," "Stelae and Sarcophagi," "Archaic Period Sculpture," "Roman Portrait Painting," "Roman Imperial Sculpture."
In one of the museum rooms, you can see part of the Snake Head from the famous Serpent Column, installed near the Blue Mosque on the territory of the former Hippodrome. I am sure that many tourists visiting Istanbul are familiar with this landmark. Here, in the museum, they will have the opportunity to imagine what this ancient column looked like before.
A small number of exhibits are displayed in the inner courtyard of the museum complex. By the way, there is a cafe located here as well. As in many other catering establishments working at museums, the prices in this cafe are higher than average for the city.
The Tiled Kiosk Museum
Opposite the main building of the museum is located the colorful building of the Tile Pavilion. This structure itself is an important monument to the history of Istanbul. The pavilion was built in 1472 and it is believed that it was originally used as a platform for viewing sports competitions that were held in the surrounding area.
Interestingly, the modern history of the Istanbul Archaeological Museum begins precisely with the Tile Pavilion, as it was here that the first exhibition of ancient artifacts in this area was located. The main building of the museum opened only 11 years after this.
Today, several rooms in the small but very refined pavilion house a collection of Turkish tiles and ceramics. When you are here, you will surely notice another attraction - a 16th century fountain embedded in the wall.
Right at the entrance to the museum complex is the building of the Museum of Ancient Orient. As I mentioned in the first article about this place, on the day of my visit the entrance was closed. Judging by the museum's website, the pavilion is now undergoing restoration work. Well, this is an excellent reason to come back here again.
The next part of the story about the Istanbul Archaeological Museum will be devoted to an unusual exhibition of sarcophagi, among which one can find the sarcophagus of Alexander the Great. However, during my visit to the museum, I found out that, despite the name, the attraction is almost not related to this legendary figure.
Have a nice trip!
