One of the places where you can experience the most spectacular view of the Golden Horn in Istanbul is the Pera Museum, which is located in Beyoğlu, the heart of the city, and the stopover for travelers today as well as in the past; Tepebaşı. When you visit the museum, you will also be very close to the famous Pera Palace Hotel, which has served figures such as Mata Hari and Agatha Christie. (The Pera Palace Hotel which was founded in 1892, and was among the most famous hotels of its time, is described as “the pearl of Beyoğlu” in E. Mamboury’s famous guide.)
Planned as a museum-culture center, Pera Museum was founded in 2005 by the Suna and Inan Kıraç Foundation, which is a project of one of the most prominent companies of Turkey’s business life, Koç Holding. This was done through the transformation of a historical building built in Tepebaşı in 1893 by Architect Achille Manoussos, which operated as the Bristol Hotel until recently.
The museum is made up of the 1st and 2nd floors which house three special collections, multi-purpose exhibition halls (3rd, 4th and 5th floors), an auditorium/foyer (basement) and the various sites on the ground floor, such as the Perakende Artshop and Pera Café.
On the first floor of Pera Museum, there are three permanent exhibitions composed of the family collections of the foundation. Among the collections which are displayed are the Collection of Anatolian Weights and Measures, which is made up of weight and measurement units and some of the best examples of weight and measurement devices made with various materials and techniques, and the Kütahya Tiles and Ceramics Collection, which includes impressive samples from an area of Turkish history which isn’t widely known. The Orientalist Painting collection, which is on display as a permenant exhibition, includes over 300 paintings made between the 17th and 19th centuries by european orientalist painters, in addition to the globally renowned painting of the only “native orientalist” Osman Hamdi Bey, The Tortoise Trainer and other examples of his work. Numerous paintings included in this collection, which have been taken from the private collection of the Sevgi-Erdoğan Gönül family are displayed in partial thematic exhibitions in the Sevgi and Erdoğan Gönül Gallery on the second floor of the museum.
Pera Museum also hosts international exhibitions such as Jean Dubuffet, Rembrandt, Henri-Cartier Bresson, JP MORGAN Collected Visions, Ivan Chermayaeff: Collages and Small Sculptures, Chermayeff & Geismar, British Orientalist Painting, Miro, Josef Koudelka, Octet: Selected Works from the School of Visual Arts, New York, Akira Kurosawa: Drawings, Masterpieces of World Ceramics from the Victoria and Albert Museum, Marc Chagall: Life and Love with the collaboration of several institutions which include Tate Britain, British Council and Institut Français d'Istanbul.
ADDRESS: Meşrutiyet Caddesi No.65 34443 Tepebaşı - Beyoğlu – İstanbul
Tel. + 90 212 334 99 00
VISITING HOURS
Tuesday to Saturday: 10.00 - 19.00 Sunday: 12.00 - 18.00 Monday: Closed
The museum is closed on New Year’s Day (January 1) and on the first days of religious holidays.
Pera Museum is free to students every Wednesday.
info@peramuzesi.org.tr
