Istanbul Military Museum, is dedicated to one thousand years of Turkish Military History. It is one of the leading museums of its kind in the world. The museum is open to the public everyday except Mondays and Tuesdays.
Istanbul Military Museum and culture center was renovated and reopened at its present building in 1993 with a very successful and contemporary exhibition concept. Today in 22 rooms about nine thousand pieces from the Ottoman era through World War I are exhibited, out of a total collection of fifty thousand objects.
The museum initially opened in Hagia Eirene Church. Later in 1950, it was moved to the First Army Headquarters building in Cumhuriyet Caddesi, Harbiye, not far from Taksim Square in Istanbul. A fine collection of historical weapons, uniforms and tools of various periods of the army are on display. The highlights are the magnificent campaign tents and standards. Outside the museum, interesting Ottoman cannons and mortars, a rail gun, aircraft, helicopters are on display.
Try to visit in the afternoon so that you can enjoy the concert given by the Mehter, which occurs most days between 3pm and 4pm. The large museum is spread over two floors.
On the ground floor are displays of weapons and Turkish military uniforms through the ages, as well as glass cases holding battle standards, both Turkish and captured. These include Byzantine, Greek, British, Austro-Hungarian, Italian and Imperial Russian standards. Also on show are an old-fashioned diorama of the Conquest and a tapestry woven by Ottoman sailors (who must have had lots of time on their hands) showing the flags of all of the world’s important maritime nations.
The upper floor has a Çannakale (Gallipoli) diorama and a room devoted to Atatürk, who was, of course, a famous Ottoman general before he became founder and commander-in-chief of the republican army and first president of the Turkish Republic. Perhaps the best reason to visit this museum is to view the short concert by the Mehter. Turkish historians argue that the Mehter was the world’s first true military band. Its purpose was not to make pretty music for dancing, but to precede the conquering Ottoman paşas (governors) into vanquished towns, impressing upon the defeated populace their new, subordinate status. Children in particular will love watching them march with their steady, measured pace, turning all together to face the left side of the line of march, then the right side.
There is also a room which is dedicated to Atatürk,the very eminent Turk, who studied here in this building when it was a military academy between 1899-1905.
The Janissary Band “Mehter Takımı“, world’s oldest military band gives concerts of march music in traditional uniforms each afternoon. The Ottomans was the first to use musicians in military campaigns and to integrate music into the life and work of the army. After a town had been conquered, the Mehter preceded the conquering Ottoman commander on a procession through the town, playing slow-cadence marches in exotic minor modes. The boom of kettledrums, invented by the Mehter, the wail of oboes and clash of cymbals, (another Turkish invention) was meant to glorify the conquest and impress upon the populace that they were now part of an entirely different civilization.
The easiest way to get to the museum is to walk up Cumhuriyet Caddesi from Taksim Sq, this will take around 15 minutes.
My husband and son are totally completely in love with military museums, so I've gotten to be a bit of a "outsider's" connoisseur. I'm not into the ones that just show rows and rows of weapons, or suits of armor, or banners, but do very much like the ones which provide a lot of history along with the exhibits.
Very large museum,but largely a collection of swords and armour.You can skip a lot of it and find what you are particularly interested in.
You can see the weapons and military equipment of Pre-Islamic Turkish states and the Ottoman Empire. It is too strange to see, Turkish-style arrows and bows, swords, and other extraordinary weapons like gasoline-powered gun.
This is a lovely little museum to spend a couple of hours . We went as there is a Starfighter on display, but were pleasantly surprised at the rest of the exhibits. It was interesting to see things from the Turkish point of view in relation to the First World War amongst other things.
The Istanbul military museum is an extensive and well maintained museum of the Turkish military with plenty of "old school" charm. A great collection of weaponry ranging from a Korea era jet fighter to an Ottoman era cannon and scimitars plus unusual exhibits such as Turkish submarine from the victoria era.
liked – spacious building, captions in english (though grammar is poor), large collection of armoury and costumes, free cloakroom
disliked – not enough of the history of battles, a long way from the military museums of london and paris, sullen staff, not allowed to take a camera unless you paid additional fee.
This place is closed on Monday but is open ll the other days. Everyday at 3 pm there is a performing band which is extremely impressive to watch. We went there 2 consecutive days and got to watch e band indoors one day and outdoors the other. The exhibits are extensive, including the tents used by the sultans.
This little-known site is wonderful for getting a large and detailed overview of the history of Constantinople and Turkey. In the afternoon, there is a concert with musicians in the uniforms from the Ottoman Empire. Beautiful murals. Loved seeing the chain used to block the straits during the conquest of Constantinople.
I had 2 teenage boys to entertain, so this was a nice change from the rest of Istanbul. Takes about 2 hrs to see all. Some great dioramas, especially of the capture of Istanbul. The chain used to seal of the Golden Horn was also interested.
Very interesting place, much to see and unbelievably cheap. At the moment we visited it, there were only some guests, later some groups added. It is not only about weapons and wars, but also about history and how thing came to be as it is in Turkey.