This spring, in the Istanbul public space area, Galataport, about which I wrote not long ago, the Istanbul Modern Museum of Contemporary Art was opened. An exhibition with this name existed in the city before; it was located in a former warehouse complex in the same place. Now, for the museum collection, a new large building has been constructed. I invite you to take a stroll through it with me.
How to get there
To Galataport, where the museum building is located, you can walk from the Karaköy pier, or take a tram to the Tophane stop.
The cost of an adult admission ticket to the museum is 300 liras (summer 2023). The exhibition is open from ten in the morning until six in the evening. I came across information that Thursday is a day of free admission to the museum. Now, judging by the official website of the exhibition space, this rule applies only to those who permanently reside in the country.
A bit of history
The Istanbul Modern Museum opened in December 2004. It was the first museum in Turkey dedicated to modern art. It should be noted that much has changed over the years: now there are several other similar exhibitions in the city, and I will tell you about some of them in my upcoming articles.
The museum building has three above-ground floors, and a huge staircase leads to the exhibition halls, but you can also reach the top by an unusual elevator. Presumably, the elevator is intended not only for visitors but also for lifting works of art; I would say its area is no less than 20 square meters.
Museum guests can go up to the roof, most of which is a surface covered with water. According to the authors' idea, we should see the silhouettes of Istanbul buildings reflected on the water's surface, and if you look towards the Bosphorus, this canvas merges with the strait into a single whole.
The total area of the museum's premises is 10,500 square meters. In addition to the exhibition halls, there are office spaces, a cafe, a museum shop, a library, and classrooms. During the existence of the exhibition, about eight and a half million people visited it, which is almost half of the population of the vast Istanbul.
Since the museum is located in the city center, it is convenient to reach many attractions from here. The most famous of them is probably the Galata Tower, under the dome of which there is an observation deck with a panoramic view of the entire Istanbul.
Have a nice trip!
