President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended the opening ceremony for the restored museums at the Darphane-i Amire complex in the first courtyard of Topkapı Palace. Erdoğan said 7 buildings and 46 halls spread across an area of 17,000 square meters had been arranged as 5 separate museums.
Erdoğan said 10,500 works from the palace inventory would be displayed in these museums. "Alongside the 7,500 works displayed in other parts of the palace, the 10,500 works that will come to light in the Darphane museums will give Topkapı Palace a distinguished place among the world's museums," he said.
Five museums from porcelain to maps
The complex houses the National Palaces Porcelain Museum, the Hüsn-i Hat Museum, the Esliha-i Hümayun Museum, the Mint and Industrial Tools Museum, and the Map Museum. Approximately 200 maps of the Ottoman geography will be displayed at the Map Museum.
The National Palaces Research Center, located on the upper floor of the same building, will also serve researchers and academics. The center brings together digitally more than 800,000 written and visual sources, particularly the Yıldız Albums.
Erdoğan announced that the Topkapı Palace Manuscript and Printed Works Collection, currently preserved at the Ağalar Mosque in the Enderun Courtyard, would be moved to 3 more secure buildings within the complex. The buildings, which are planned to be completed soon, will house Fatih Sultan Mehmed's personal library, Ottoman miniatures, a Qur'an collection, and handwritten and printed books. Two buildings in the complex have been allocated to artists and civil society organizations as the Darphane Art Galleries.
Edirne Palace to be completed next year
Erdoğan said Edirne Palace, built by Fatih Sultan Mehmed and used alongside Topkapı Palace for approximately 300 years, was also being restored. He said Edirne Saray-ı Cedid-i Amire, whose restoration is due to be completed next year, would become one of Türkiye's most magnificent historical monuments.
Darphane-i Amire was transferred to the Presidency of the National Palaces Administration in 2019, and preparations for its restoration began under the supervision of a scientific committee. Some of the buildings had collapsed and roofs had fallen after being neglected for many years. The museums are expected to welcome visitors starting October 25.
