In Istanbul the summers are hot and the tourists are plentiful but here are two places you can go to take a break from the crowds and the temperatures while enjoying some of the best sights the city has to offer.  Take one of the many boats travelling up the Bosphorus to the village of Beylerbeyi on the Asian shore and experience the same natural breeze and imperial majesty as the sultans did when visiting the summer palace.  On the European continent the perfect getaway from all the hustle and bustle of the city’s busiest tourist area is the world-class Istanbul Archaeological Museums, located right in the heart of Sultanahmet. 

Istanbul Archaeological Museum

Osman Hamdi Bey was a man with a mission. On June 13, 1891, his vision became reality when the new purpose-built Istanbul Archaeological Museum opened.  One hundred and twenty years later, June 13 is still celebrated as Museum Day in Turkey, and Osman Hamdi Bey’s name is still synonymous with Turkish museology and historical preservation.

In the late 19^th century, the Ottoman government, frustrated with Western powers taking Anatolian artifacts out of the empire, established the Imperial Museum Collection. After this, treasures began to be sent to Istanbul from all the Ottoman provinces, but they mostly collected dust, being neither well-organized nor well-exhibited.

In 1881, Osman Hamdi Bey was appointed director of the museum. His appointment was, undoubtedly, the most significant occurrence in the history of Turkish museums. He was already a famous painter, archaeologist, and intellectual. (His most famous painting, “The Tortoise Tamer”, was bought in 2004 for $3.5 million, the largest sum ever paid for a Turkish work of art, and is on permanent display at the Pera Museum.) When he became director, there were only 650 pieces in the museum’s collection, which he quickly began restoring and cataloguing. One of his first acts after becoming director was to fight for an Antiquities Conservation Act that could legally combat the rampant smuggling of cultural treasures to western countries. This act was passed in 1883, and is one of the reasons that the Istanbul Archaeological Museum now has more than 1 million objects in its collection. (Osman Hamdi Bey’s fight to stop smuggling is so legendary that he even appears as a character in The Abyssinian Proofby Jenny White, a recent novel about a turn-of-the-century Istanbul detective tracking an antiquities smuggling ring.)

Osman Hamdi Bey also spent much time traveling around the Ottoman Empire collecting new artifacts. When he heard that a farmer in Sidon (in present-day Lebanon) had unearthed something interesting while ploughing his fields, he went there to conduct the excavations himself. What he found was an underground necropolis of Phrygian kings that included what is undeniably the most famous piece in the museum today: the Alexander Sarcophagus, named after its bas-relief carvings depicting the life and adventures of Alexander the Great and once thought to have been made for Alexander himself. Osman Hamdi Bey was so concerned with the safety of these antiquities while they were being transported to Istanbul that at one point he actually tied himself to the Alexander Sarcophagus as it was being winched aboard a cargo ship!

Upon safe arrival in Istanbul, the Sidon sarcophagi received so much attention and the Sultan was so impressed that he gave orders that a new building be built specifically as a museum to house these treasures. The building’s neoclassical design, by architect Alexander Vallaury, was inspired by the Alexander Sarcophagus and the Sarcophagus of the Weeping Women (also from Sidon), and construction was overseen by Osman Hamdi Bey himself.

Today the Istanbul Archaeological Museum is one of three buildings that make up the Istanbul Archaeological Museum complex, which is located in what was once an outer garden of Topkapi Palace, on the aptly named Osman Hamdi Bey Hill Road.

The beautiful Tiled Kiosk, which was home to the Archaeological Museum’s treasures before 1891, was built in 1472 by Sultan Mehmed. It is one of the oldest examples of Ottoman civil architecture. The Tiled Kiosk Museum has a collection of around 2,000 tiles and ceramics from the Seljuk and Ottoman eras (11^th-20^th century). While these objects may be less famous than those housed in the other two museums, the bright colours and beautiful ornamentation make this museum a work of art in itself and definitely worth a visit.

The Museum of the Ancient Orient houses a rich collection of artifacts from the earliest civilizations of Anatolia, Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Middle East. All of the artifacts predate the 1^st century AD. Some of the more famous pieces include the Kadesh Peace Treaty between Ramses II of Egypt and Hattusili III of the Hittite Empire from 1258 AD (one of three tablets that comprise the oldest known peace treaty in the world), the glazed tile images from the Ishtar Gate of Babylon, the obelisk of King Adad-nirari III of Assyria, and fragments of the 13^th century sphinx from the Yarkapı Gate at Hattuşaş.

The Istanbul Archaeological Museum is, of course, the biggest and most famous of the three. Near the entrance is a statue of a lion. This is from the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus (one of the seven wonders of the ancient world) and the only piece that remains in Turkey, the rest having been smuggled out by foreign archaeologists. This solitary lion is a reminder of what might have been if not for Osman Hamdi Bey’s passion and perseverance.

The treasures inside the museum are myriad, and a full tour could take several hours. The Alexander Sarcophagus and the other treasures from Sidon should not be missed. Also highly recommended is the first-floor exhibit “Istanbul Through the Ages”, which won a Council of Europe Museum Award in 1993. This informative and well-presented exhibit is still being updated, as the constant construction in Istanbul unearths new treasures almost daily. The construction of a tunnel under the Marmara Sea from Yenikapı has yielded some spectacular maritime finds, which have been added to the display. But no matter which galleries you choose to visit, you will not be disappointed, as the entire building is filled with world-class exhibits.

If you find yourself becoming overwhelmed by the majesty and intensity of so many exquisite sights, then stop by the pleasant little museum café or wander through the courtyard and sit in the shade of an ancient column. Plan to take your time on your trip to the museum, and enjoy a day that you will never forget!

Cool Beylerbeyi

In 1865 Sultan Abdulaziz’s summer palace was completed and opened its doors and guest rooms to some of the most important and influential dignitaries of his time.  Today the humble village of Beylerbeyi that surrounds the place by the same name is just as welcoming as it was during the time of the Sultan. Whether you prefer to wander around the palace gardens or the village square, Beylerbeyi will surprise you with its unassuming acceptance and simple charms.

Although Beylerbeyi is easily accessible by land, try to arrive by water as the Sultan’s guests did.  The view of the palace from the water as you pass under the bridge is uniquely Istanbul, an alluring transposition of past and present.  On the opposite side of the square is an elegant mosque, built in 1778 by Sultan Abdulhamid I in memory of his mother Rabia Sultan, which is also best seen from the water.  The central square, adjoining the pier, plays host to most of modern Beylerbeyi’s guests.  Like many other Bosphorus villages, Beylerbeyi has a collection of cafes and restaurants and shops selling jewelry and handicrafts mixed among the historic old wooden houses, but Beylerbeyi also has its own distinct character.  This is perhaps typified by the two massive street hounds that have made the square their home for as long as anyone cares to remember.  The size of small horses they plant themselves in the midst of the action, observing everyone but disturbing no one, rather like the local fishermen and waiters. Nothing happens in the village that goes unnoticed by this menagerie and everyone - rich, poor, local, foreign –is equally welcomed in the square.

Crowded on the weekends, it is quiet during the week when the main action surrounds the fishermen going about their business, laughing and shouting back and forth as they clean their catch and play keep away with the ever present cats. 

After enjoying the square a visit to the palace is a must.  Less elaborate than the other Bosphorus palaces, Beylerbeyi Palace is still very appealing, perhaps even more so for its uniqueness.  The current palace was not the first to be built here.  An earlier wooden palace, called the Yellow Palace, burnt down and the site was abandoned in 1851 until Sultan Abdulaziz chose to rebuild.  Locals have a legend about how this location was originally chosen.  When the Sultan decided to build his summer palace he was determined to have it in the coolest place on the Bosphorus so he devised a special system to locate the perfect spot.  He had his servants hang sides of meat from trees at various spots all up and down the strait.  Each day the servants were sent out to check on the state of the meat.  In the end, the site where the meat took the longest to decay was ‘scientifically’ proven to be the coolest.  Anyone who has visited Beylerbeyi in the heat of summer will have noticed that the constant breeze blowing in the square and along the water does indeed have a significant effect on the temperature.

The palace was designed in the French neo-Baroque style with a traditional Ottoman plan by the imperial architects Sarkis and Agop Balyan.  It has a rectangular plan with six grand halls and 24 rooms on two floors, containing both a selamlik (official quarter) and haremlik (women’s quarter). Because it was a summer palace there is no heating system.  The floors are covered with Egyptian reed mats and Hereke carpets.  This provided insulation and protection against dampness.  Running water was popular in Ottoman houses, both for the sound and the cooling effect, and Beylerbeyi Palace has a pool in one of its reception halls.  Sumptuously decorated, like all Ottoman palaces, French Baccarat crystal chandeliers and oriental vases abound.  But this palace also has some unique decorative touches.  Sultan Abdulaziz loved ships and the sea.  During his reign the Turkish navy rose to be second in the world in both strength and importance.  Throughout the palace you will find a strong naval motif in the decorations and paintings.

One of the many royal guests who visited Sultan Abdulaziz at Beylerbeyi Palace was Empress Eugenie of France who received a rather legendary welcome. In 1869 when Empress Eugenie was travelling through Istanbul on her way to the opening of the Suez Canal she stayed in Beylerbeyi Palace.  When the Empress dared to enter the palace on the arm of Sultan Abdulaziz the sultan’s mother slapped the Empress in the face for her boldness.  But even that shocking welcome couldn’t take away from the beauty of the palace for Empress Eugenie.  She so admired the design of the windows in her guest room that she had them copied for her bedroom in the Tuileries Palace in Paris.

Another notable ‘guest’ of the palace was Sultan Abdul Hamid II who lived in captive exile in Beylerbeyi from 1912 until his death in 1918.  The Sultan was an accomplished woodworker and spent his last years in Beylerbeyi Palace studying and writing his memoirs as well as making new furniture for the palace, much of which is still on display.

The once luxurious palace gardens are still worth a visit.  Once a 160,000 m² forest including a hunting area, a zoo and a terraced garden with flora from all over the world, today only a small part remains and is open to the public.  However, what is left is a little oasis of peace and quiet in the city with its own café.  There are two oval pools, dozens of statues of animals and a wide variety of plants and flowers, including a small bamboo forest.  There is also access to the waterfront through two large sea gates in the garden.  Walk right out onto the marble pier and admire the tent-shaped pavilions while taking in the breathtaking view up and down the Bosphorus and enjoying the famous Beylerbeyi breeze.

Despite claims that the palace gets over a thousand visitors a day,  Beylerbeyi doesn’t feel like an overcrowded or overpriced tourist trap.  This village has not been changed to appeal to the masses with little snapshots of Turkey in suitably souvenir-sized packages.  The person sitting next to you in the palace garden having a cup of coffee may just as likely live across the street as halfway around the world.  There are no pretentions here.  Beylerbeyi invites you to come as you are and, more than likely, you will want to come again.