museums

The Seljuk Han of Anatolia

Collections of Seljuk art in Turkish museums

The following Turkish museums contain significant collections of Seljuk Art:

KONYA

Squinch of the Karatay Museum, Konya
student rooms now house
display cases for the ceramics collections

Karatay Medrese, Konya, 1251

Ince Minareli Medrese Museum, Konya

Ince Minareli Museum Konya

interior showing display cases

Çinili Kiosk, Istanbul, 1466

Antalya Museum

Tokat Gök Medrese Museum; inner courtyard, 1277

Karatay Çini Eserler Müzesi (ceramics and tiles)
This museum, housed in the magnificent Karatay Medrese (built in 1251), was opened in 1955. The Karatay Medrese, itself a masterpiece of stone and ceramic art, is a perfect setting for the museum and is one of the highlights of any visit to Turkey. The dazzling visual delight of the turquoise, indigo and black tile decoration of the massive dome squinches is breathtaking.
Other notable collection highlights include the reconstruction of the cruciform tile freize of the Kubadabad palace, the tiles from the Beyşehir Eşrefoğlu mosque, the luster glass plate found at Kubadabad, and the ceramic decoration of the dome of the tomb of the vizier Karatay.

Ince Minareli Medrese Taş Eserler Müzesi (stone, marble and works in wood)
This is another impressive museum housed in a Seljuk medrese. Highlights in this museum include the famous stone carvings of the winged angel from the Konya fort, the double-headed eagle (symbol of the Seljuks), and the hunt scene with the spotted leopard . Also included are wooden door and window shutters, and tombstones.

Konya Mevlana Müzesi (carpets)
Inside the museum, classical Seljuk rugs are displayed on the walls of the Semahane. The 17 dervish cells outside the museum also display carpets, mostly of the Ottoman period. This museum houses the Konya rugs discovered at Beyşehir.

Ethnologıcal Museum (Seljuk carpets and woodwork)
This small museum, located near the Sahip Ata Complex, contains two of the Konya carpets found in the Alaeddin Mosque. Other carpets are exhibited in the newly-restored Sahip Ata complex.

ISTANBUL

Museum of Turkish and Islamic works of art (TIEM)
Located since 1983 in the Palace of Ibrahim Pasha (vizier to Sultan the Magnificent) on the historic Hippodrome square, this world-class museum houses over 40,000 works of all forms of decorative art, notably calligraphy, wood, stone, ceramics, glass and metalwork (Seljuk door knocker from the Cizre Mosque).
The major draw of this museum is its carpet collection. Visitors come from around the world to this museum to see one of the most extensive carpet collections in the world. The Museum houses 8 of the original Seljuk carpets found in the Alaeddin mosque of Konya Three of the carpets, albeit worn, are intact, three others are fragments from small carpets, and the last two are fragments from large size carpets.
There is also an informative section on the ground floor dedicated to ethnography, displaying kilim looms, dyes, wool samples and weaving utensils.

Çinili Kiosk
This elegant pavilion, built in the time of Fatih Sultan Mehmet in 1466-72, is one of the oldest examples of Ottoman civil architecture in Istanbul. It is located next to the Istanbul Archeology Museums, in the grounds next to the forecourt of the Topkapi Palace. The entrance exedra is decorated with mosaic enamels. Ceramics from the Seljuk and Ottoman period are displayed in the 6 rooms and middle court of the kiosk. There are approximately 2000 works of art in the museum and its storerooms.

Vehbi Koç Vakfi Sadberk Hanim Müzesi
Seljuk and Ottoman decorative arts are displayed in a jewel of a private museum on the Bosphorus.

Sakip Sabanci Museum in Emirgan
This new private museum, opened on June 8, 2002, houses decorative arts of all periods.

ANKARA

Museum of Anatolian Civilizations
Probably the most interesting and well-organized museum in Turkey. A walk-through visual textbook of the multiple layers of civilizations in Turkey.

Ethnographical Museum
An outstanding collection of Seljuk woodwork.

ANTALYA

Antalya Museum
Although mostly devoted to antiquities of the Greek period, this intimate museum houses a section on Seljuk art, notably coins. The Seljuk room contains a tile panel from Alaeddin Keykubad's kiosk behind the stage of the Aspendos theater.

ADANA

Arkeoloji Müzesi

TOKAT

Archeology Museum at the Gök Medrese
The stunning medrese, built in 1277 by the vizier Muineddin Pervane, is an in situ museum of mural tile ceramics. Restored and reopened in 1982, it houses exhibits on 2 floors, as well as an interesting display of Seljuk tombstones in the garden.