Istanbul Cultural Tour

THE MUSEUM OF INNOCENCE 

The Museum of Innocence is both a novel by Orhan Pamuk and a museum he has set up. From the very beginnings of the project, since the 1990s, Pamuk has conceived of novel and museum together. The novel, which is about love, is set between 1974 and the early ’00s, and describes life in Istanbul between 1950 and 2000 through memories and flashbacks centred around two families – one wealthy, the other lower middle class. The museum presents what the novel’s characters used, wore, heard, saw, collected and dreamed of, all meticulously arranged in boxes and display cabinets. It is not essential to have read the book in order to enjoy the museum, just as it is not necessary to have visited the museum in order to fully enjoy the book. But those who have read the novel will better grasp the many connotations of the museum, and those who have visited the museum will discover many nuances they had missed when reading the book. The novel was published in 2008, the museum opened in Spring 2012.

Who is Orhan Pamuk: Orhan Pamuk is a world famous and Nobel prize winner Turkish novelist from modern times. He was born in Istanbul on 7th of June 1952.

 

ISTANBUL TOY MUSEUM

Istanbul Toy Museum was founded by poet/author Sunay Akin on 23 April 2005. The museum which houses the most favorite examples of toy history, spanning from 1700’s to today is located in a historical mansion.

Istanbul Toy Museum was established with toys- that were purchased from collectors, auctions and antique shops for over 40 countries in 20 years by Sunay Akin-offers the history of world to the visitors with more fun and catchy learning methods. For example; an attempt to reach the moon which is established in space toys section and industrial revolution toys which is established in train toys section are described by the language of toys. With this in mind the decoration of the museum was designed by stage design artist Ayhan Dogan. With the distinction of being founded by a poet and designed by a stage design artist, the museum constitutes to be the first in the world.

One of the most important features of the museum is; embracing the families with all its members. With this feature the museum is the place for three generations to spend time together and where they can share happiness. Grandfathers/grandmothers, fathers/mothers and grandchildren enjoy to tell about their periods to each other while hitting the roads towards their childhoods in a time machine. The museums hallways resonate with the sounds that describe the childhood memories with the sentence “I had it”.

The gap about the toy museums in Turkey was filled with Istanbul Toy Museum and Istanbul Toy Museum has gained an importance place among its examples in the world. On November 2012 TOYCO Istanbul meeting (European Union of Toy and Children Museums) was held by Istanbul Toy Museum in Turkey for the first time. Istanbul Toy Museum has thus been a pioneer about establishing children and toy museums in the world and made Istanbul to win the title “the capital of toy museums”.

Istanbul Toy Museum became a model for the other toy museums to be established in our country. In 2011 Antalya Toy Museum (belongs to Antalya Metropolitan Municipality), in 2013 Gaziantep Play and Toy Museum (belongs to Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality) and 2015 Atasehir Play Museum (belongs to Atasehir Municipality) opened their doors to the  visitors under the counseling and the curating of Sunay Akin who is the founder of Istanbul Toy Museum.

Who is Sunay Akın: Sunay Akın (born September 12, 1962) is a Turkish poet, writer, TV host, journalist, and a philanthropist.

SAHAFLAR BOOK MARKET

Sahaflar Çarşısı (Old Book Bazaar) is located between Fesçiler Gate and Beyazit Square in the Fatih district of Istanbul, and has been in place since the 15th century. Traditionally, during the Ottoman period, bookstores were situated close to theological schools, known as madrasahs. After the Bazaar was constructed in 1460, the bookstores were gathered in a specially designated section.

At the end of the 19th century, the stores were severely damaged by an earthquake and subsequently had to be moved to their current location. Another disaster – huge fire – struck in 1950 and also had its toll on the Bazaar, reducing to ashes many of its valuable manuscripts. Shortly afterwards, all the bookshops were nationalized and rebuilt. Nowadays, there are in total 23 book stores in the Bazaar. Installed in the middle of it is the bust of İbrahim Müteferrika, the person who introduced printing press to The Ottoman Empire.

Join us for a great day!

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