10 of the best museums in İstanbul

İstanbul is itself a museum, but the city also has astonishing collections of treasures old and new in institutions both intimate and grand.

May 16, 2025 - 09:10

With centuries of historic remains scattered amid its modern streets, and more layers of its multifaceted past still continually being uncovered, İstanbul is a museum unto itself. But the city also has astonishing museum collections – of ancient relics and contemporary art, of craftsmanship old and new – in institutions both intimate and grand.

Here are our picks for İstanbul’s most fascinating museums, along with some guidance on whether or not it's worth buying the MuseumPass İstanbul.

1. Topkapı Palace

Best museum for decadent displays

Topkapı Palace, the grand former home of the Ottoman sultans – replete with brilliantly colored tiles, gleaming marble and gilded mirrors – has been designated a museum in its entirety. But like a lavishly decorated set of nested boxes, it also contains an array of eye-popping collections. In the Treasury, you’ll find jewel-encrusted daggers, an 86-carat diamond and a throne inlaid with mother of pearl. In the former Palace Kitchens, there’s an array of fine Chinese porcelain. The Outer Treasury has enough blades, guns and armor, spanning hundreds of years of weapons design, to outfit an army.

People in a gallery full of Roman-era statues and art works

2. İstanbul Archaeology Museums

Best museum for history buffs

Set in a leafy part of the former palace grounds, the İstanbul Archaeology Museums (three buildings in one complex) hold an extraordinary array of relics from numerous civilizations dating back thousands of years. Its collection of more than one million objects ranges from ancient Sumerian cuneiform tablets and intricately carved Hellenistic stone sarcophagi to a snake’s head from the Hippodrome’s Serpentine Column and a chunk of the massive chain that used to block enemy ships from entering the Golden Horn.

Planning tip: The complex is currently undergoing renovation in stages, so some parts of the museums may not be accessible at any given time.

3. Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts

Best museum for craftsmanship

Masterful examples of calligraphy, ceramics, carved columns, illuminated manuscripts and inlaid wood fill the rooms of this beautiful 16th-century palace, formerly the home of the high-ranking Ottoman official İbrahim Paşa. With well-selected and displayed holdings from the 8th to the 19th centuries, the Museum of Turkish & Islamic Arts is a fine place to see how a variety of Islamic art forms developed across the broader Middle East.

People dressed modestly with their heads covered gaze at mosaics and frescoes on the walls and ceiling of a room with a curved ceiling

4. Kariye Mosque

Best museum for awe-inspiring Byzantine religious art

The tiny former 11th-century Chora Church in what was once the western suburbs of İstanbul’s old city is cute from the outside, but what’s inside is simply stunning: walls, ceilings and domes covered with some of the world’s finest examples of late-Byzantine-era mosaics and frescoes, all carefully restored.

Planning tip: After being reopened as the Kariye Mosque in 2024, the building is closed to non-worshippers during the daily Muslim prayer times and on Fridays.

5. Pera Museum

Best museum for old İstanbul scenes

Just steps away from bustling İstiklal Caddesi you can find a serene, green İstanbul in the scenes of the city that belong to the Pera Museum’s rich collection of paintings from the 17th to early 20th centuries. This permanent exhibition of works by European and Ottoman/Turkish artists is accompanied by smaller but well-curated displays of Kütahya tiles and ceramics and Anatolian weights and measures, as well as temporary shows of contemporary art on the upper floors.

The modern entrance to a grand art gallery with open staircases and glass walls

6. İstanbul Modern

Best museum for contemporary art

Blast out of the past and into the present at İstanbul Modern, the country’s preeminent museum of modern and contemporary art and a top spot to get acquainted with the works of established artists and up-and-coming talent from Türkiye. The museum also hosts exhibitions by international artists as well as frequent film screenings in its Renzo Piano-designed building, which includes a restaurant, cafe, library, and shop featuring the works of local designers.

7. Vehbi Koç Büyükdere Evi

Best museum for textile aficionados

This two-story house along the northern Bosphorus shoreline is home to the small but stellar collection of Anatolian kilims (pileless woven rugs) that belonged to the late traveler and ethnographer Josephine Powell, who devoted decades of her life to documenting daily life and craft traditions in rural Turkey. Other displays in the Vehbi Koç Büyükdere Evi include weaving tools, a loom, explanations of common kilim motifs, and some of Powell’s photographs.

8. Zeyrek Çinili Hamam Museum

Best museum for hamam fans

Created during the restoration of the 16th-century Zeyrek Çinili Hamam into a luxurious bathhouse, this museum sheds light on the traditional hamam (Turkish bath) ritual as well as the long history of this particular building. Exhibits range from exquisite Ottoman-era bathing clogs and washing bowls to Roman-era archaeological artifacts uncovered during the restoration to a fascinating journey through the city’s centuries-old water system. Don’t miss the underground cisterns, which can be visited for free and sometimes host exhibitions of contemporary art.

A museum room with transport-related displays around the outside and six old-fashioned motorcars parked in a line

9. Rahmi M Koç Museum

Best museum for families

Planes, trains and automobiles are just a fraction of what you’ll find in this vast museum on the banks of the Golden Horn that’s devoted to transport, industry and communications. The wildly eclectic collection includes elaborate dollhouses, classic cars, ships in bottles, hats belonging to former Turkish leaders and scale models of İstanbul’s historic ferry terminals. Many of the exhibits at the Rahmi M Koç Museum are interactive, making it a great place to bring kids.

10. Museum of Innocence

Best museum for literary types

Is it a museum or something that belongs in one? That’s one of the questions you might ask yourself as you make your way through the Museum of Innocence, a house in the Çukurcuma neighborhood that serves as a kind of companion piece to Nobel Prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk’s novel of the same name. Even if you haven’t read the book, the objects on display – purportedly collected by Pamuk himself at antique and junk shops – paint an intriguing picture of life in mid- to late-20th century İstanbul.

Is it worth getting the MuseumPass İstanbul?

The MuseumPass İstanbul, sold by the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry, offers combined admission to 13 museums over a five-day period for €105 ($118). But it’s wise to check that list of institutions – and do the math – before buying, as many popular museums are not covered.

If you’re planning to visit Topkapı Palace and its Harem, along with a couple of Istanbul’s other priciest sights such as Galata Tower, buying the pass may be worth your while. Another bonus is being able to skip the ticket lines, which can be long at top attractions in peak season. Purchase the MuseumPass online or at the ticket booth of any of the included museums.