Istanbul - Turkey with Your Family: From Bustling Bazaars to Historic Sites - page 74

exhibits from the early Islamic
period through to the Seljuk and
Ottoman years. It is primarily an
educational venue and although,
like most of the musuems in
Istanbul it doesn't have an area
specifically for children, most
members of the family should
find it interesting, the exception
being really young tots. Again,
topics and games are likely to be
needed to keep them entertained,
leaving you free to enjoy the
exhibits. The museum has a little
refreshment area, and although
the selection is limited, a choco-
late bar is more than likely to
light up the eyes of even the most
tired child in an instant.
Open 10am-5pm daily, closed Wed.
Admission 5.5 YTL. Amenities
refreshment area.

The Istanbul Toy Museum is a
gem for everyone who never
wants to grow up. It's great for the
children too, of course. It opened
in 2005 and in doing so fulfilled
the dream of Turkish poet and
author Sunay Akin. Akin had vis-
ited his first museum, Istanbul's
Archaeological Museum, when he
was 6 years old and never forgot
it, but it was only when he visited
a toy museum in Nurnberg in
Germany some years later that his
dream started to take shape. He
started to collect toys, began the
conversion of a beautiful villa in
Istanbul belonging to his family
and eventually opened the toy
museum. Today, it houses some
4,000 of the 7,000 toys in Akin's
collection, many of which are
antiques. The most notable is a
miniature French violin dated to
1817, along with a doll made in
the US in the 1820s, a set of mar-
bles dating from the 1860s, lots of
tin toys and porcelain dolls. The
more valuable exhibits are housed

The Istanbul Toy
Museum

★★★
Ömerpa@a Avenue Dr. Zeki Zeren
Street No:17, Goztepe, Istanbul
b [phone]; www.istanbu
loyuncakmusesi.com

VALUE

The Naval Museum

74