Sakip Sabanci Museum

Explore the Quiet of Emirgan at Sakip Sabanci Museum

Istanbul is a huge city, and that means traffic, crowds, and a lot of queuing for major attractions. Of course, this is the same of any large city, but Istanbul? The crowds are often larger, and the traffic? Infinitely worse!

This should not put anyone off visiting this fantastic and hugely cultural city, but it does mean that from time to time, a little distance from the main attractions may be needed.

For this reason, a visit to the beautiful Sakip Sabanci Museum in Emirgan is just the ticket.

What is the Sakip Sabanci Museum?

The Sakip Sabanci Museum is located in Emirgan, which is towards Sariyer, in the northern part of the Istanbul’s European side. This is quite a well-to-do area, and home to many people of riches. Of course, this makes it a great place to head to see a different side of Istanbul, a calmer, more serene and laid back side.

The Sakip Sabanci Museum is situated in a mansion which dates back far into history, and has some beautiful gardens to explore. The mansion used to belong to a very important family in Turkey, called the Sabanci family, hence the name.

The museum is known locally as the ‘horse mansion’ although it dates back to around 1920. The name ‘horse mansion’ comes from a statue of a horse that stands prominently in the gardens, looking over the house. The mansion was also a former summer residency of the Hidiv family from Egypt, as well as a former Montenegrin Embassy building. The Sabanci family bought the home in 1951 and it was converted into the current museum quite recently, in 2002.

What Can You See in The Sakip Sabanci Museum?

The museum is overall a museum of arts, and has several temporary and permanent collections to explore. The main collections are the Calligraphy Collection, Painting Collection, and the Furniture and Decorative Arts Collection. In addition there are exhibitions containing arts and written documents dating back to around the 14th century, and Ottoman and Islamic artistic pieces.

Throughout the year, the Sakip Sabanci Museum also houses temporary collections and exhibitions, so this is something to check out online nearer to the time of your visit, to see what is on offer. In the past here have been Monet collections, and Rembrandt exhibitions, to name just two.

The gardens are also certainly worth a walk around, especially during the warmer weather, when the blue skies will make the greenery much brighter.

When you have completed your exploration, there is a top class restaurant inside the museum, for you to have a rest and a meal. You will find fusion food here, with a slight Turkish influence, with a stunning view over the waters of the Bosphorus. The price might be high, but it’s a great choice for a special occasion, perhaps. If that is a little out of your price range, there are several restaurants close by in Emirgan, and over into Sariyer itself.

Visiting The Sakip Sabanci Museum

The museum is open every day apart from Mondays, from 10am until 6pm. On Wednesdays, the museum opens a little later, until 8pm. The entry fee is 20TL, however if you do visit on a Wednesday, you can get in for free – that’s certainly something to think about when planning your Istanbul itinerary!

Reaching the Sakip Sabanci Museum isn’t difficult, but the journey could be long if there is a lot of traffic. You can avoid this to some degree by trying not to travel during the peak rush hour, e.g. in the morning and late afternoon, when people are returning home from work. The reason for this is that your bus is likely to travel through the main business district, e.g. Levent, and you will certainly encounter traffic here!

There are several buses which depart from Taksim and Besiktas down to Emirgan, or you could even avoid the roads altogether and travel via the Bosphorus hop on and off tour, which is run by a couple of private companies. Shop around to find the best deal if you decide to go down this route.

Once you’ve finished in the museum be sure to head to Emirgan Park, or simply go for a stroll along the waters of the Bosphorus. This calmer feel to life will be a true tonic to those busy days in the main touristic parts of Istanbul, and will show you a totally different side to the city overall.