The Ottoman Empire's first museum, in the palace gardens.
Istanbul, Türkiye Founded 1891
Opened in 1891 by the painter and archaeologist Osman Hamdi Bey, these three museums stand in the outer gardens of Topkapi Palace. They hold over a million objects from the lands of the Ottoman Empire.
The collection runs from the Hittites and ancient Greece to Rome and Byzantium, and includes the oldest known peace treaty and some of the finest carved sarcophagi of the ancient world.
Connected empires: Ottoman Empire Roman Empire
Archaeology
Five thousand years of South Asia under one red-brick roof.
Archaeology
The life of the Buddha, told in Gandhara stone.
Archaeology
A planned city, 4,500 years old, on the banks of the Indus.
Archaeology
The Parthenon's treasures, in sight of the Parthenon.
Archaeology
Persepolis, Susa and seven thousand years of Persia.
Archaeology
The world's oldest public museum, on Rome's sacred hill.
Archaeology
The old pink palace of the pharaohs on Tahrir Square.
Archaeology
Nefertiti, rebuilt from the ruins of war.
Archaeology
Buddhist treasures from the valley of Udyana.
Archaeology
Tutankhamun's full treasure, beside the Pyramids of Giza.
Archaeology
The town that gave a whole civilization its name.
Archaeology
Where Alexander's Greeks met the monks of Gandhara.
