Topkapı Palace Imperial Mint Becomes Five Museums
The restored Darphane-i Âmire now hosts five museums and about 10,300 objects.
The Topkapı Palace Imperial Mint (Darphane-i Âmire) has been restored and turned into a cultural complex of five specialist museums. The site spans 17 historic buildings in the palace’s first courtyard. Milli Saraylar, the Turkish authority that manages the national palaces, says about 10,300 objects will go on show, which makes this a major new stop for anyone exploring Ottoman Istanbul.
Milli Saraylar president Dr. Yasin Yıldız briefed journalists on the project at Topkapı Palace. He said the buildings had been neglected for many years, and some structures had collapsed or lost their roofs. The restoration kept the original architecture while giving the site new museum functions.
What the Imperial Mint complex now holds
The five museums are Porcelain, Calligraphy (Hüsn-i Hat), Imperial Arms (Esliha-i Hümayun), Mint and Industrial Tools, and Maps. Yıldız said the Porcelain Museum alone has 19 halls in building 13. Its collection runs from the 13th to the 20th century and includes pieces from China, Japan, Germany, Austria and France.
The Calligraphy Museum occupies buildings 2 and 4 and is expected to show about 2,000 works. The arms museum presents roughly 2,500 pieces spanning about 1,500 years, from swords linked to the Companions of the Prophet to 20th-century blades. Around 500 restored machines fill five halls in the industrial museum.
The maps museum draws on a palace collection of nearly 3,000 maps. Yıldız noted that maps have long been underrepresented in Turkish museums. The complex also includes two galleries for independent artists, space for temporary exhibitions and a research centre with specialist libraries and digital resources.
From Ottoman mint to museum district
The mint buildings trace back to building work in 1727. Under Sultan Mahmud II, the complex was expanded into the form it has today. The mint stopped using the site from the second half of the 20th century, and various institutions then held it with uneven results. Topkapı Palace and the mint area passed to Milli Saraylar in 2019, and the restoration followed.
Yıldız also pointed to a historical link. The complex neighbours Hagia Irene (Aya İrini), where, according to him, Ottoman weapons were first displayed as a museum. The new arms museum, he said, continues that tradition.
Opening dates and visiting the Topkapı Palace museums
Yıldız said President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will open the complex. Turkish reports point to a ceremony on 24 October and public access from 25 October. Please check the official announcements before planning a visit, because the source text itself is not fully clear on the days.
Entry will be included in the standard Topkapı Palace ticket for both local and foreign visitors, according to Yıldız. For about the first month, visitors will enter through the Imperial Gate (Bab-ı Hümayun). A second entrance opposite the Archaeology Museum is planned afterwards.
Yıldız added that Milli Saraylar holds about 375,000 movable works, roughly 200,000 of them at Topkapı. Showing around 10 percent of an inventory is a common international benchmark, he said, and the new museums bring the institution to that level.
Source: SonDakika, TRT Haber
Featured image: Gryffindor / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
