Istanbul Archaeology Museum (Arkeoloji Müzesi)

The İstanbul Archaeological Museums has a very special place concerning the Turkish museology, due to the diversity and richness of its collections and since it was established as a result of the westernization movements that had marked the last century of the Ottoman Empire. The famous painter, curator and archaeologist Osman Hamdi Bey, who became the director of the museum in 1881, extended the collections of the museum through excavations carried out in different sites within the borders of the empire and he was able to bring the İstanbul Archaeological Museums to European standards.