Did you know that there is a toy museum in Istanbul? Especially families with children mostly know. If you ask me, toy museums are a nice exploration environment not only for children but also for adults. While toys made over the years take you back to your childhood, toy museums provide the opportunity to see how popular culture and world agenda shape toys. For this reason, I like to visit toy museums at home or abroad. Istanbul Toy Museum, which is a gift to Istanbulites by Sunay Akın, located in Istanbul Göztepe, is one of the good examples of these museums. Istanbul Toy Museum where, how to get there, entrance fee, visiting hours, history and everything you wonder This article is waiting for you, happy reading!
What You Will Find In This Article
Where is Istanbul Toy Museum? How to go?
Istanbul Toy Museum is located in Göztepe district of Istanbul. There are quite a few options for transportation. My advice is that you do not come with your own vehicle, because there is a parking problem as the museum is located between the streets and residential areas. However, if you come by bus and/or metro, you can reach the museum with a short walk. On the Toy Museum's Google Maps app Click for location.
For those who will come to the Toy Museum by bus;
- “Göztepe” with buses numbered 10B, 10S, 14Ç, 17, 17L, 19F, 19M, 19S,
- “Tütüncü Mehmet Efendi Mosque” with buses numbered GZ1, GZ2,
- You can get off at the bus number ER1, ER2 at the “Erenköy Station” stop and take a short walk to the museum.
For those who will come using Marmaray; You can get off at the Erenköy or Göztepe stop and take a 10-minute walk to reach the museum.
As you approach the museum, you will see the “Istanbul Toy Museum” signs on the road crossings.
Toy Museum Visiting Days and Hours
The Toy Museum is closed on Mondays. It can be visited between 10:00 - 18:00 on weekdays, except Monday, between 10.00:18.30 - XNUMX:XNUMX on weekends.
Toy Museum Entrance Fee
Since the museum is a private business, the Museumcard is not valid. You can see the Istanbul Toy Museum entrance fees below;
- Full: 75 TL
- Discounted: 40 TL. Children aged 3 and over, students, teachers, lecturers, people aged 65 and over can benefit from the discount.
- Free: Disabled people, children under the age of 3, ICOM card holders, MMKD members, licensed guides and members of the press can visit the museum free of charge.
You can pay the entrance fee by credit card or cash, you are given a coin instead of a ticket at the entrance and you enter the museum by throwing a coin from the box office. Even this small detail is well thought out. Paper is not wasted, and it takes visitors back to the days of coins.
The Toy Museum also hosts various events. If you are going to visit a group of 10 people or more, or if you want to visit the museum as part of a special event 0 (216) 359 45 50 – 51 You need to make a reservation by calling the numbers.
Establishment of Istanbul Toy Museum & Sunay Akın
The toy capital of the world Nuremberg'The Toy Museum, located in Istanbul, inspired Sunay Akın and the idea to exhibit his toy collection in a museum came up.
The museum came into being with the collection of toys collected by writer and poet Sunay Akın, one of the most important values of our country, from 20 different countries for 40 years. An archivist, Sunay Akın has a huge collection of antiques, auctions and toy shops. Stage design artist Ayhan Doğan made the necessary design for the exhibition of this collection. The museum is the first and only museum in the world, founded by a poet and designed by a stage designer.
The opening of the Toy Museum was held in 2005, on the day of April 23, National Sovereignty and Children's Day, which was given to children by our Father. The opening of the museum on this meaningful day has added a new detail to the details of the museum, which are embroidered like lace.
I suggest you watch Sunay Akın's Nürnberg video to learn the story of both the Toy Museum and Steiff toys.
What's in the Toy Museum?
The Toy Museum is located in a historical two-storey mansion. While it is very enjoyable to visit the mansion alone, each room of the two floors is full of toy exhibits. I will not describe the toys one by one, but I can say that thousands of pieces of toys from the 1700s to today have been exhibited within certain concepts, with music related to the subject.
The exhibitions that impressed me the most were the military/army toys and space-themed exhibitions that Hitler had made to accustom children to military service. The “Turkish Flag to the Moon” in the space hall is one of the surprises of the museum.
These halls are the best proofs that the toy museum is not only a place where toys are exhibited, but also takes you on a journey in history. Toys belonging to many local and foreign artists, from Adile Naşit to Charlie Chaplin, are exhibited in the museum.
If we look at the other areas in the museum;
Toy Museum Cafeteria
While you are visiting the museum, you will be accompanied by the smell of coffee and cake. The museum has a cafe in the basement. It's a nice place to both take a break and have a coffee between toys. There is also a breakfast service, but you have to call ahead and make a reservation.
Museum Store
In the museum store, there are many products compatible with the museum concept, from cloth bags to wooden toys, from mugs to scarves. If you want to look at the products before going to the museum Toy Museum's online storeYou can take a look at.
Event place
There is also an event space in the museum. In addition to activities such as workshops, theaters and autograph sessions, the Book and Conversation meetings of my beloved Yasemin Sungur, which I follow with pleasure, are also held here. You can find the event calendar on the museum's website.
Istanbul Toy Museum 360 Tour
You can tour the Toy Museum online with a 360 degree tour. on the museum's website 360 Degree Tour Just click the link.