Istanbul Carpet Museum

The Carpet Museum, affiliated with the General Directorate of Foundations, is located in the Sultan Ahmet Mosque Hünkar Pavilion in Istanbul. The structure is the first example of the Sultan's pavilions designed as a structure where the Sultan could sit, rest and chat before or after prayers. The Sultan Ahmet Pavilion, built together with the Sultan Ahmet Mosque, was built by Sultan Ahmet I between 1609-1617. Its architect was Sedefkar Mehmet Ağa. The pavilion, which has survived to the present day through various repairs, has lost many of its original details and its last major repair was after the fire in 1949. It is learned from the purchased items list in the construction book that the pavilion, whose original roof and decorations have been destroyed, was furnished with valuable fabrics, rugs and carpets. The Carpet Museum (Sultan Ahmet Mosque Hünkar Pavilion) consists of two floors, with an entrance corridor on the lower floor, an exit ramp to the upper floor and three rooms on the upper floor. In the entrance hall and ramp on the lower floor, large-sized carpets are exhibited, while in the rooms on the upper floor, small-sized carpets are exhibited. It is the only museum in Turkey where only carpets are exhibited. The museum collection is formed by collecting carpets of high historical and artistic value that have been donated to mosques as part of an old Islamic tradition for centuries.

There are 448 carpets in the carpet museum. 62 carpets are exhibited alternately. Very rare carpets are exhibited in the museum where original Turkish carpets are exhibited. The earliest carpet in the museum, which has a very rich collection, is a 14th century principality era carpet. Among the carpets exhibited are 15th century early Ottoman period carpets, 16th and 17th century classical period carpets (Uşak carpets, Bergama, Konya and Kula carpets), 18th century Kazakh carpet, 16th century Persian carpet, Caucasian carpets, Turkmen carpets, 19th century Yağcıbedir Prayer Rug. 19th The rarest examples of prayer rugs from the Kula, Gördes, Konya, Ladik and Milas regions dating back to the 19th century are exhibited.

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