In Istanbul’s Sultanahmet district, this museum occupies the sixteenth-century İbrahim Pasha Palace, whose arcaded rooms overlook the old Hippodrome. Inside, carpets, manuscripts, ceramics, and objects from several Islamic dynasties show how artistic ideas traveled across regions and centuries.
Guide preview
The building tells its own story before you reach a gallery. You are standing in İbrahim Pasha Palace, raised above the former Hippodrome and restored for Sultan Süleyman’s grand vizier and son-in-law. The museum moved here in 1983, but its institutional history began in 1914 in the Süleymaniye complex.
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UpgradeQuick facts
- The museum opened in 1914 as the Evkaf-ı İslâmiye Museum.
- It moved to İbrahim Pasha Palace in 1983.
- The palace was repaired for Ibrahim Pasha in 1520 and presented to him by Süleyman I.
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