Istanbul - Turkey with Your Family: From Bustling Bazaars to Historic Sites - page 73

Even if the thought of visiting an
underground cistern doesn't
appeal and your children can't
imagine why you would want
them to accompany you on such
a visit, whatever you do don't
miss the chance to see this
extraordinary tourist attraction.
Gloomy, eerily lighted and cav-
ernous, it has a series of columns
arranged in rows between which
water would have at one time
risen. It was built to supply
water for the city centuries ago.
Get your children to look out
for the two column bases carved
as Medusa heads.
Open 9am-5.30pm daily, closed
Tues. Admission 10 YTL adults, 5
YTL children.

Thrace and the Byzantine peri-
ods, the Anatolia and Troy col-
lection and classical artefacts
dating back thousands of years.
Ceramics and tiles are exhibited
in a separate exhibition area
within the museum complex.
Open 9am-5.30pm Tues-Sun.
Admission 5 YTL. Amenities chil-
dren's museum, play area, refresh-
ments.

Denız Müzesi (Naval
Museum)

★★
Ortakoy Waterfront. b [phone]
43 46.

VALUE

Turkey is proud of its naval his-
tory and this is brought vividly to
life at the Deniz Müzesi. Inside,
its atmospheric exhibition halls
show pictures, photographs,
charts, ship nameplates and arte-
facts from serveral decades, while
in its extensive grounds are the
remains of cannons, anchors from
ships and even ships themselves.
Your children, especially, will love
it. Pretending to be a naval officer
barking orders from behind one
of the cannons will, no doubt, be
the highlight of their visit to
Istanbul.
Open 9am-5pm Wed, Fri, Sat and
Sun. Admission 5 YTL.

The Top Museums
Archaeological Museum
(Arkeoloji Müzesi)

★★
Osman Hamdi Bey Yoku@u. b +90
212 520 77 40.

Easy to find a short distance
from the Topkapi Palace, the fas-
cinating Archaeological Museum
is a must for the agenda what-
ever the age of your children.
Along with all the outstanding
exhibits, it has a special ground-
floor children's museum, com-
plete with a medieval castle to
climb all over, a play area and
places to get refreshments along
the way. It covers a number of
periods of Turkey's, and in par-
ticular Istanbul's, history over
four floors in an easy-to-navigate
fashion. Among the collections
exhibited in 20 or so galleries are
antiquities from the ancient

Sadberk Hanim Museum
Sakip Sabanci Caddesi 22, Emirgan.
b [phone].
Located in the Sariyer district,
this museum has two main sec-
tions: archaeology and ethnogra-
phy. In its archeological section
there are around 7,000 antiques
from different civilizations, while
its ethnographic section houses

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