5/5 IMRAN C. 2 years ago on Google
Istanbul
Military
Museum
(Turkish: Askerî
Müze)
is
dedicated
to
one
thousand
years
of Turkish
military history.
It
is
one
of
the
leading
museums
of
its
kind
in
the
world.
The
museum
is
open
to
the
public
everyday
except
Mondays
and
Tuesdays.
The
museum
initially
opened
in Saint
Irene
Church.
Later
in
1950,
it
was
moved
to
the
First
Army
Headquarters
building
in
Cumhuriyet
Caddesi, Harbiye,
not
far
from Taksim
Square in Istanbul.
Harbiye
district
(an
Ottoman
derivation
from
the Arabic word
harb
for
warfare)
was
the
site
of
the Ottoman imperial
military
academy,
the
empire's
"West
Point"
or
"Sandhurst"
and
is
still
an
important
military
installation.
A
fine
collection
of
historical
weapons,
uniforms
and
tools
of
various
periods
of
the
army
are
on
display.
The
highlights
are
the
magnificent
campaign
tents
and
standards.
Outside
the
museum,
interesting
Ottoman cannons and mortars,
a
rail
gun,
aircraft,
helicopters
are
on
display.
The
military
museum
and
culture
center
was
renovated
and
reopened
at
its
present
building
in
1993
with
a
very
successful
and
contemporary
exhibition
concept.
Today
in
22
rooms
about
nine
thousand
pieces
from
the
Ottoman
era
through World
War
I are
exhibited,
out
of
a
total
collection
of
fifty
thousand
objects.
It
holds
striking
historical
treasures
such
as
the
chain
that
the Byzantines stretched
across
the
mouth
of
the Golden
Horn to
keep
out
the Sultan's
navy
in
1453
during
the siege
of
Constantinople.
The
east
wing
of
the
museum
is
used
for
temporary
exhibitions,
meetings
and
similar
activities.
On
the
ground
floor,
the
display
of bows and arrows in
the
first
room
is
followed
by
sections
containing
the
weapons
and
other
regalia
of
the cavalry,
curved daggers and lancets carried
by
foot
soldiers
in
the
15th
century,
17th
century
copper
head
armor
for
horses
and
Ottoman
shields
carried
by
the janissaries,
and
sections
devoted
to Selim
I, Mehmet
the
Conqueror,
the
conquest
of
Istanbul,
weaponry
from
the
early Islamic, Iranian, Caucasian, European and
Turkish
periods.
This
floor
also
houses
a
unique
collection
of
helmets
and
armor,
as
well
as
the
sections
allocated
to
firearms
and
great
field
tents
used
by sultans on
their
campaigns.
On
the
upper
floor
there
are
rooms
where
objects
from World
War
I,
the Battle
of
Gallipoli,
and
the Turkish
War
of
Independence,
and
uniforms
from
more
recent
times
are
displayed.
There
is
also
a
room
which
is
dedicated
to Atatürk,
who
studied
in
the
building
when
it
was
a
military
academy
between
1899-1905
4 people found this review helpful 👍