Description
Istanbul Naval Museum is the largest naval museum in Turkey and one of the leading museums globally in terms of the diversity of its collections. There are approximately 20,000 works in its collection. The Istanbul Naval Museum, affiliated with the Naval Forces Command, is the first military museum established in Turkey.
Established in 1897, by the order of the then Minister of Maritime Affairs, Hasan Hüsnü Pasha, and with great efforts and contributions from Colonel Hakkı Bey and Captain Saim Notko, it was built in a small building in the Tersane-i Amire (shipyard belonging to the Ottoman State in Kasımpaşa, Istanbul). It was established under the name "Museum and Library Administration."
Initially, it was not arranged and was opened to the public as a museum storage. Cemal Pasha, who became the Minister of Maritime Affairs in 1914, repaired the museum, as was the case with all branches of the navy, and appointed Captain Naval Painter Ali Sami Boyar as the director, allowing for its scientific reorganization. Boyar laid the foundation for the development of museum science and its current form by establishing the "Ship Models Workshop" to create full and half models of Turkish ships and the "Fashion Models Workshop" where fashion models were made.
Secondly, with the start of World War II, the works were moved to Anatolia for protection. At the end of the war, it was decided to move the museum again to Istanbul in 1946, and the museum was moved to the complex of Dolmabahçe Mosque, which was the most suitable place for the conditions of that day, and it was opened to visitors on September 27, 1948, after two years of work under the management of the new museum director Haluk Şişovaroğlu. In 1961, the museum was moved to its current location near the Beşiktaş pier next to the monument and tomb of the Turkish admiral Barbaros Hayreddin Paşa.
The main exhibition building consists of 3 floors with an area of 1500 square meters. Four large halls and 17 rooms in the building were used as exhibition areas and were named after the names of the wind directions. The museum exhibits royal boats, sailors' uniforms, manuscripts, ship models, signs, maps, portolans, paintings, monograms, heraldic symbols, navigation tools, ship captains' portraits, and weapons. In the entrance section, there is an educational area for young age groups and souvenir shops.
The museum, which has been completed after restoration, was reopened to visitors on October 4, 2013.
