Aşiyan, the bird's nest, the house that our famous artist Tevfik Fikret, one of the pioneers of Serveti Fünun literature, designed and lived in until his death, is Turkey's first literature museum. Aşiyan Museum serves under the name. The building, overlooking a magnificent view at one of the most beautiful points of the Bosphorus, was designed as a part of nature. While visiting the museum, it is impossible not to say, "This house was designed only by an artist."
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History of Aşiyan Museum
Tevfik Fikret, one of the leading names of Serveti Fünun literature, designed and built the building where the museum is located today between 1905 and 1906. He lived in this house with his wife between 1906 and 1915 until he passed away. After Tevfik Fikret's death, his wife Nazmiye Hanım began to suffer from economic difficulties. With the intervention of Hasan Ali Yücel, who heard about this situation, the building was purchased by Istanbul Municipality in 1940. After the arrangements made, the municipality opened Turkey's first literature museum, the Literature Museum, to visitors in 1945.
In 1961, Tevfik Fikret's body, which was in Eyüp Cemetery, was moved to the garden of the museum. Aşiyan means "bird's nest" in Persian and Tevfik Fikret named this house "Aşiyan". With the arrival of Tevfik Fikret's grave in the museum garden, the name of the museum was changed to Aşiyan Museum in order to reflect his soul into the museum.
The name Aşiyan also gave its name to the district, which was previously called Kayalar Village. Today, the memory of Tevfik Fikret continues to live in the entire district, as if the poet greets the entire district from his grave in the garden of the house...
Tevfik Fikret's House, Bird's Nest, Aşiyan
Tevfik Fikret, whom we know as a poet and who has contributed to the art world with his paintings as well as his poems, dreamed of the house he and his wife, Nazime Hanım, would build on this land while he was teaching at Robert College, where Boğaziçi University is located today. He sold the mansion in Aksaray inherited from his father and designed the house of his dreams himself and had it built between 1905 and 1906.
Tevfik Fikret designed this house based on the philosophy that art and design should not be independent of nature, but should be in harmony with nature. For this reason, most of the stones on the ground floor of the building were left in their natural state, and the pool, benches and walking paths in the garden landscape were built entirely using natural stones.
Due to the location of the house overlooking the magnificent view of the Bosphorus, the poet named his house "Aşiyan", which means "bird's nest" in Persian. He and his wife lived in this house between 1906 and 1915 until they passed away.
Tomb of Tevfik Fikret
Tevfik Fikret's grave is located in the most beautiful part of the garden of Aşiyan Museum. The body of the poet, who was buried in Eyüp Cemetery after his death, was moved to the garden of the museum in 1961, with the initiatives of the Tevfik Fikret Foundation, in accordance with his will. With its location overlooking the Bosphorus in a lush garden, the poet's tomb is in harmony with nature, just like his house.
Aşiyan Museum Sections
Aşiyan Museum is organized as it was when Tevfik Fikret was alive, and the exhibitions are shaped accordingly. On the ground floor of the three-storey building, there is a reception hall, Literature-ı Cedide Room and Abdühak Hamit Tarhan Rooms. In the basement floor, next to the dining room, laundry and kitchen, there is the Şair Nigar Hanım Room. The poet's bedroom and study are located on the first floor of the house, which has the most beautiful view.
A bust statue of the poet greets you right in front of the entrance door of the building. At the entrance, security gives you shoe covers and informs you that taking photos and videos is prohibited inside and you can only take the view from the bedroom window.
There is an audio guide application inside the museum, and you can get information about the areas you visit by scanning the barcodes on your phone.
Salon
When you enter the door, the area you see is the hall where Tevfik Fikret hosts his guests. When you turn left at the entrance, the wax statue of the poet greets you. It is such a realistic statue that you feel like going to shake his hand. Next to the wax statue, the painting "Fog", which was made by the last Caliph Abdulmecit Efendi, inspired by Tevfik Fikret's poem "Fog" and gifted to the poet, is exhibited.
While visiting the museum, another point about Tevfik Fikret that I did not know came to light: that the poet made wonderful paintings. While visiting the museum, if you look at the names of the painters of the paintings displayed on the walls, you will see that they were mostly made by Tevfik Fikret. Tevfik Fikret, whom we know as a poet, tells us even years after his death that he was a versatile artist with his paintings and home design...
There is a fireplace in the living room and a mother-of-pearl sofa by the fireplace. Memories of the poet's beloved father are exhibited in this section.
Literature-i Cedide Room
The small room next to the hall on the ground floor was the poet's rest room. Today, it is used as a room where the photographs of the Literature-ı Cedide movement, founded by Tevfik Fikret, are exhibited.
It was known that Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was a fan of Tevfik Fikret. Atatürk said in one of his speeches, "I took the spirit of revolution from him." In fact, the poet said, "I am a poet with a free mind, a free wisdom, and a free conscience." We know that our Ancestor used these lines frequently. There is a small exhibition area in the museum where Atatürk's statements about the poet are displayed.
Abdühak Hamit Tarhan Rooms
On the ground floor, two rooms are reserved for Abdühak Hamit Tarhan, one of the poets of the Literature-ı Cedide movement. The items exhibited in these rooms were donated to Istanbul Municipality by Tarhan's wife after his death.
Study room
When we go up to the first floor of the house, the poet's study and bedroom welcome us. In the study room, there is a very large desk and library of the poet's own design. There is a door from the study room that opens directly to the upper garden of the building, to the white bridge leading to Robert College during the poet's time. Due to the elevation difference, this place looks like the first floor from the upper part of the garden, so a connection was made from the house to the garden with a small bridge.
Bedroom
The most impressive and most beautiful room in the house is undoubtedly the poet's bedroom. The poet died in this room on August 19, 1915, at the age of 48. One of the interesting pieces exhibited in the bedroom is the face mask made after the poet's death. “Mihri Müşfik, our first female painter, took the mold of the mask, which is the first example of the "death mask" tradition in Turkey, from the poet's face right after his death. Knowing that the pattern was taken after the poet's death, it feels strange when you see the mask.
Dining room
When I descended the wooden stairs to the basement, the first thing that caught my eye was the beauty of the parquet flooring. Following the parquet floors, I reached the dining room. From the cabinets to the table, from the dining sets to the chairs, everything was so elegant and tasteful that, despite the ban, I couldn't resist and took a photo here.
The still life paintings displayed on the walls were also made by Tevfik Fikret. The poet named the window of the dining room overlooking the Bosphorus "Socrates Window" to show his admiration for the philosopher.
Kitchen-Laundry
On the basement floor, there is a very large kitchen and laundry in line with the needs of the house. There is another door from the kitchen to the garden. The hot water boilers and the laundry tub were preserved as alive and intact as if the laundry would be washed soon.
Including the door on this floor, the house has a total of 4 doors. One is the main entrance opening to the living room, one is from the study to the upper garden, one is from the kitchen to the garden, and the last door is on the ground floor, opening to the other side of the garden.
Poet Nigar Hanım's Room
The small room opposite the dining room is the section reserved for Şair Nigar. The belongings, books and some photographs of Poet Nigar, who lived between 1856 and 1918, were donated to the museum in 1959 by her relatives.
Garden
The garden of the museum is as beautiful as the building. From the moment you enter the garden gate, you will be impressed by both the eye-catching Bosphorus view and the wonderful garden landscaping. There are benches and a small gazebo in the garden where you can sit and watch the view. You should definitely see the tomb of Tevfik Fikret in the garden, the stone pool designed by the poet himself, the stone table, seating areas and stairs.
How to Get to Aşiyan Museum?
Aşiyan Museum is located within the borders of Bebek district of Beşiktaş district of Istanbul. After reaching the Aşiyan seaside, you can reach the beautiful garden where the museum is located with a 5-minute walk on the Aşiyan Hill.
Transportation to Aşiyan Museum by Private Vehicle
I would not recommend coming to Aşiyan with your private vehicle; There is a lot of traffic on the Bosphorus line and there is a serious parking problem. The museum does not have its own parking lot, so you will have to leave your car somewhere on the Bebek-Hisar line. Of course, come if you are ready to make the valets rich...
Transportation to Aşiyan Museum by Public Transportation
There are many ways to come to Aşiyan by public transportation;
- All buses going from Taksim, Kabataş, Beşiktaş to İstinye direction pass through Aşiyan Stop.
- For those coming from the Anatolian Side, there are motorcycle lovers from Küçüksu to Aşiyan. It is also an option to go to Beşiktaş by motorbike or ferry from Kadıköy or Üsküdar and take the bus from Beşiktaş.
- Those coming from Etiler can use the newly opened funicular line and go down to the coastal road. Thus, they can reach here by rail system from any point on the Boğaziçi University metro line.
Aşiyan Museum Entrance Fee and Visiting Hours
I left the best news for last, entrance to Aşiyan Museum, which is under the auspices of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, is free. Anyone who wishes can visit the museum without paying any fee.
If you are going to the museum on the weekend, I recommend you go early in the morning. When we went there around 10:30 in the morning on Sunday, it was extremely quiet, but according to the information we received from the security, it was quite crowded, especially in the afternoon.
The museum can be visited every day between 09:00 and 17:00, except Mondays. Previously, the closing time was 16:00, but it has been extended to 17:00. They have very sweet and helpful staff, you can ask them your questions about the museum and get help.
Frequently Asked Questions About Aşiyan Museum
No, Aşiyan Museum can be visited free of charge.
If you are coming to Aşiyan from the Bosphorus coast, you can get off at the Aşiyan stop. If you are coming by metro, you can get off at Boğaziçi University stop and take the funicular down to the beach.
In the museum, there are exhibition halls for the artists of Serveti Fünun Literature, especially the items used by Tevfik Fikret in his daily life, places such as his study room, books, bathroom and kitchen. Additionally, Tevfik Fikret's grave is located in the garden of the museum. Besides all this, there is a magnificent Bosphorus view.
Museum card is not used because museum entrance is free.
Aşiyan Cemetery, where the remains of important artistic and intellectual people of our country are located, Rumeli Fortress and Bebek, Borusan Sanat, also known as Perili Köşk, are other places you can visit while you are there.
Aşiyan Museum is the house of Tevfik Fikret, one of the important names of the Turkish Literature world, which he designed and lived in until his death.
The museum can be visited every day except Mondays.
When you come to Aşiyan Museum…
While we are at the Aşiyan Museum;
- Aşiyan CemeteryYou can also visit . The remains of many of our country's important intellectual, artistic and political figures lie here. İlhan İrem, Atila İlhan, Özdemir Asaf, Abidin Dino, Orhan Veli Kanık, Yahya Kemal Beyatlı, Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar are the first names that come to my mind. Since the cemetery is quite large and very cramped, if there is a grave you want to visit, you can get help from the security at the entrance about the grave locations.
- Rumeli FortressYou can visit .
- Breakfast restaurants in Rumeli HisarYou can have breakfast at. In fact, if you want a change, you can hop on the Küçüksu boat and have your breakfast on the opposite bank.
- Coastal walk from Hisar to Bebek You can take a pleasant and scenic walk on the road.
- If you came to the museum on the weekend, Haunted house You can visit the Borusan Holding administration building, also known as Borusan Holding, which serves as an art gallery on weekends.
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