Harbiye Military Museum – Military Museum and Cultural Site Command

Harbiye Military Museum, is one of the museums that you must see in Istanbul, which has an important place in our history as it is the building where our Great Leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk received his military education, which is among the world's leading museums in terms of collection richness and diversity. Harbiye Military Museum entrance fee, visiting days and hours, history, where, how to get there, sections, Mehter concert in the museum Everything you wonder about the museum is waiting for you in this article!

Where is Harbiye Military Museum?

The Harbiye Military Museum is located in the very heart of Istanbul, on Cumhuriyet Caddesi in the Harbiye district, which takes its name from this building, right next to the Harbiye Army House.

on the Military Museum's Google Maps application. click to see location.

How to Go to the Harbiye Military Museum?

It is very easy to reach the Military Museum.

• If you want to come by bus; You can take any bus passing in the Taksim-Şişli direction and get off at the Harbiye stop right in front of the museum. Buses passing through Harbiye bus stop; DT2, 35C, 46C, 46KT, 46T, 48N, 54HT, 54E, 54K, 54C, 55T, 66, 70FE, 70KE, 70KY, 74A, 87, 89T.
• The last stop of the Beşiktaş-Harbiye minibuses departing in front of the Beşiktaş ferry port is right in front of the museum.
• If you want to use the metro, you can reach the museum with a short walk in the direction of Taksim after getting off at the Osmanbey stop.
• If you want to come with your private car, the museum is between Şişli and Taksim. I do not recommend you to come with your private car, especially on weekends, do not deal with traffic problems.

Harbiye Military Museum Entrance Fee and Visit Days and Hours

Entrance fee to the museum is 25 TL, free for students, Müzekart is not valid.

Military Museum; Closed on January 1 and the first day of religious holidays, open on official holidays, closed on Mondays, you can visit every day between 09:00 and 17:00, no visitors are allowed inside after 16:00.

Mehter concert, the oldest military band in the world, is given at 15:00 every day the museum is open. The concert lasts for half an hour, if you go to the museum, do not miss this concert!

About Harbiye Military Museum

The building, which was built as the Military Academy in 1841, has been serving as the Military Museum since 1993. The most important feature of this wonderful museum is that our Great Leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk received training at the Military Academy in this building between 1899-1905. He was portrayed as a representation of the class he was studying.Cadet Atatürk Class“There is in the museum.

Considering the richness and diversity of its collection, the Military Museum is one of the world's leading military museums. In the museum, there are halls belonging not only to the Republican Period, but to all Turkish States, and the Turkish state and military traditions of 2000 years are explained. The museum is really big, I recommend you to spend 4-5 hours to visit the whole museum.

History of Harbiye Military Museum

*The photo was taken by Melih Dashgin. letthengit.com You can reach Melih's amazing photos and articles at the address.

The unofficial history of the Harbiye Military Museum, which is among the leading military museums in the world with its rich collections and more than 5000 items on display, dates back to the 15th century, let's see what happened.

• After the conquest of Istanbul by Mehmet the Conqueror, that is, by the Turks, in 1453, the tools and equipment used in valuable wars began to be collected in the Hagia Irene Church in the garden of Topkapi Palace, and it was called Cebehane.
• In 1726, all the tools and equipment in Cebehane were rearranged and named Dar-ül Esliha.
• In 1846, under the leadership of Tophane Müşiri Ahmet Fethi Pasha, the first restaurant of modern Turkish museology was opened and the Military Museum was established.
• The collections exhibited in Hagia Irene began to be known as the Museum Humayun.
• As the number of archaeological artifacts increased, the Museum was moved to Humayun, Tiled Kiosk, and although the foundation of today's Istanbul Archeology Museums was laid, the military supplies remained in Hagia Irene.
• Until 1940, the Military Museum continued its activities in Hagia Irene. Against the risk of the Second World War spreading to Turkey, its activities were suspended for a while.
• In 1949, the artifacts were put into storage in the Maçka Armory.
• Since 1959, works have started to be exhibited again in the Harbiye Mektebi Gymnastics Building.
• Since 1966, due to the inadequacy of the Gymnasium, it was decided to use the old Harbiye Building as a Military Museum.
• On February 10, 1993, with a new arrangement, the museum was opened to visitors in its current building.

Harbiye Military Museum Sections

Inside the Military Museum; In the main building, there are 32 different halls, outer and inner gardens (the inner garden was closed to visitors when we went) and a cultural site.

Below you can see the names of the halls in the main building, respectively. The first 21 halls are on the lower floor and the next halls are on the upper floor;

1. Presentation Hall
2. Turkish Army Salvation Hall
3. Seljuk Hall
4. Ottoman State Foundation Period Hall
5. Ottoman State Ascension Period Hall
6. Great Turkish States Promotion Area
7. Fatih and Yavuz Corner
8. Scissor Weapons Hall
9. Conquest Hall of Istanbul
10. Defense Weapons Hall
11. Firearms Hall
12. Cadet Atatürk Class
13. Ball Models Hall
14. Somalia-Bosnia-Kosovo and Internal Security Hall
15. Shooting and Equestrian Hall
16. Ball Showroom
17. Mehter Instruments Hall
18. Military Clothing Hall
19. Hall of Banners and Flags
20. Martyrs Gallery
21. Maritime Corner
22. Constitutional Period Hall
23. First World War Hall
24. Canakkale Wars Hall
25. Liberation War Hall
26. Korea-Cyprus Hall
27. Ethnographic and Manuscript Hall
28. Hall of Chiefs of Staff
29. Ataturk Hall
30. Tents Gallery
31. Selim III Corner (1789-1807)
32. Armenian Question Hall with Documents

All the halls may not be open to visitors at all times, for example, when we went, only the upper floor Korea-Cyprus Hall Atatürk Hall was open to visitors. The parts of the museum that impressed me the most; It was the hall where the Battle of Sakarya was narrated, and of course, the classroom where our father received his education at the Military Academy.

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In addition to the works exhibited in the museum, most of the halls were animated with panoramic murals, all of them were beautiful, I really liked it.

Except for the museum part; Halls can be rented for events in the Cultural Site section. Cultural Site Command You can contact with.

Mehter Concert at the Military Museum

One of the different aspects of the Military Museum is that every day the museum is open, starting from 15:00, the world's oldest military band, the Mehter band, gives a concert. The concert takes about half an hour. You don't have to pay a fee to watch the concert, you just need to buy an entrance ticket to the museum.

Harbiye Military Museum Virtual Tour

It is possible to make a virtual tour in the Harbiye Military Museum. inside the museum Click to take a virtual tour.

Harbiye Military Museum Contact Information

Harbiye Military Museum contact information is given below;

• Address: Military Museum and Cultural Site Command, Vali Konagi Caddesi, Harbiye, Sisli 34298 Istanbul
• Phone: 0 (212) 233 27 20
• Electronic mail: [email protected]

Although we went on Saturday, there were very few visitors in the museum. It's good that it's quiet during the pandemic, but it's a shame that such a beautiful museum attracts so few visitors. Take your children and let them experience our history, which they read in history books, in this museum.

Don't forget to share this article with your museum-loving friends!