Maritime Museum Istanbul

Inside the Maritime Museum Istanbul

The primary display building is 1500 m2 and has three stories. The building's 4 major halls and 17 chambers served as exhibition spaces, and the names of the halls were inspired by the wind directions. The Maritime Museum houses everything you might possibly want to know about the navy, including but not limited to reign boats, sailor attire, manuscripts, ship models, flags, maps and charts, paintings, tughra, and crests, galleys, navigational devices, ship head figures, and armaments.

The Maritime Museum is home to several collections, exhibitions, and archives and is Turkey's biggest and most prestigious naval museum. Among its collections, there are Ataturk’s belongings, historical boats, wood pieces, metal objects, textiles,  naval paper pieces, stone, and plastic artworks. Its current exhibitions are The Ottoman Navy, The Republican Navy, Naval Uniforms from Past to Present, Martyrs and Veterans, Ataturk, Yavuz, and Historical Diving Equipment. Of course, these exhibitions sometimes change, so to give some examples from its famous past exhibitions, we can mention the Blue Heritage of Turkey, Barbaros Brothers, Ships at the Gallipoli Naval Battle, Kasimpasa and the Navy, Farewell to Eternity: The Frigate Ertugrul’s Voyage to Japan and Husnu Tenguz “A Life Devoted to Art”.

The Archives Department also houses a Naval Specialization Library with 23.385 domestic and international texts on Turkey's naval history. 7787 uncommon printed works in Ottoman involve national sources. The library also has foreign publications in English, French, Italian, Russian, and Japanese. Additionally, it has an archive of 1120 maps and charts.

Visiting Maritime Museum Istanbul

Istanbul Naval Museum's opening hours are between 9 AM and 5 PM on the weekdays and 10 AM and 6 PM on the weekends. The last entry to the museum is at 4 PM on weekdays and 5 PM on weekends. The Naval Museum is open every day except the 1st of January, the first days of religious holidays, and Mondays.

There is also a Gift Shop in the museum, which is open every day between 9 AM - 12.30 PM and 01.30 PM - 5 PM except Mondays and Tuesdays.The 

Istanbul Naval Museum entrance fee is 200 Turkish Liras as of 2023. If you want to take a photograph, you have to pay extra on top of your Istanbul Naval Museum ticket prices. For videos, it goes up to a little more. There is also an audio guide option in Turkish, German, Japanese, English, Spanish, and Arabic. Each of them costs extra.

How to Get to the Maritime Museum Istanbul

The Naval Museum is located in the Besiktas district of Istanbul. Since it is just near the Besiktas Pier, there are countless public transportation options.

You may reach the Besiktas Pier through the Uskudar-Besiktas, Kadikoy-Besiktas, and Adalar-Besiktas boat lines.

All IETT buses, including the 26, 26A, 26B, 27E, 27SE, 28, 28T, 29A, and 29C, that pass via the Besiktas Meydan stop will take you to the Maritime Museum. Taking the Kabatas - Bagcilar tramway line and getting off at the Kabatas stop is the most straightforward method to travel to Besiktas from Istanbul's more southern or western regions. You can also go to Kabatas using the Taksim - Kabatas funicular line from Taksim. Most buses will take you to Besiktas Square from there because it is so nearby.