The northern districts of the European side of Istanbul are not as popular among travelers as the city center. However, if you venture there, you can easily find interesting landmarks without tourist crowds or long lines. For example, I’ve previously written about Emirgan Park and the Japanese Garden. Today, let’s take a walk through the Sakıp Sabancı Art Museum.
Sakıp Sabancı Museum: An Exhibition Space in the Mansion with a Horse
The museum’s collection is housed in a mansion built in 1927. The building originally belonged to an Egyptian prince. In the mid-20th century, the mansion was purchased by industrialist Hacı Ömer Sabancı. Around the same time, an intriguing object was added to the grounds—a horse statue—which led to the mansion being nicknamed the “Mansion with a Horse.” Another horse sculpture stands in front of the house, a replica of a statue from the city’s former Hippodrome.
After Hacı Ömer’s death, his family moved into the mansion. Over several decades, the Sabancı family amassed a collection of paintings, manuscripts, calligraphy, furniture, and antiques in the mansion’s halls. In the late 1990s, the family donated the building to a university, and in 2002, the art museum was opened.
The museum’s main collection focuses on 19th- and 20th-century paintings. The works are arranged in chronological order, allowing visitors to trace the development of Turkish art from the Ottoman Empire to the Republic of Turkey.
Some rooms in the mansion still preserve interiors from the time when the Sabancı family lived there. Alongside 200-year-old furniture, visitors can see, for example, a 19th-century carpet, a Bohemian crystal chandelier, and several paintings. Some of the artworks are by Russian artist Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky.
How to Visit the Museum
I walked to the museum from the Aşiyan pier, a journey that took about 50 minutes. If you’re not a fan of long walks or if the weather during your trip doesn’t permit much walking, you can take a bus to the mansion. The Moovit app is a helpful tool for planning routes on Istanbul’s public transport.
The Sakıp Sabancı Museum is closed on Mondays. On other days, the exhibition halls are open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. When I visited some time ago, the museum offered free admission on Thursdays. According to the official website, free entry is now available on Tuesdays. Additionally, complimentary admission is offered on December 19 and January 16.
In the same area of the city, you’ll find another unique exhibition space—the Borusan Contemporary Museum. Its collection is intriguing because the exhibits are housed in the office of one of Istanbul’s companies. The mansion where the exhibition halls are located is nicknamed the “Haunted House.”
Have a nice trip!
