Istanbul Airport Museum opens its doors with “Treasures of Turkey: Faces of the Throne” exhibition

Being Turkey’s gateway to the world far beyond a mere airport but a venue for culture and art, Istanbul Airport breaks new grounds with the airport museum put at the service of its international passengers. Istanbul Airport Museum illustrates with the “Treasures of Turkey: Faces of the Throne” exhibition 316 different pieces from 29 museums from all around Turkey.

Having proven itself as a global HUB along with its unique architecture, strong infrastructure, superior technologies, and the outstanding travel experience offered to passengers, Istanbul Airport has broken yet another ground in Turkey with the opening of Istanbul Airport Museum put at the service of its passengers to acquaint the global citizens with Turkish culture.

With this important step taken towards becoming a center for culture and art activities as an integral part of almost all travel, Istanbul Airport has joined the club of major airports with a museum such as many other cities across the world like San Francisco, Amsterdam, Athens and Cairo.

First exhibition at Istanbul Airport Museum: “Turkey’s Treasures: Faces of the Throne”

“Turkey’s Treasures: Faces of the Throne” being the first exhibition held at Istanbul Airport Museum is a collection that comprises several highly-interesting artefacts waiting for its visitors such as the “Kadesh Treaty”, the first peace treaty known in the history of humanity or “Talismanic Jackets / Kaftans” that belonged to Ottoman Sultans.

Designed as a venue where an impressive space equipped with diverse exhibition methods and technology meets history, Istanbul Airport Museum prepares to offer its visitors a wide assortment of culture and art works with a content to surpass all expectations by its impressive practices, authentic design and space setup, not only among airport museums but all museum in general. In addition to having one of the largest indoor areas among the worldwide airport museums, Istanbul Airport Museum is attracting great attention with the unique collection offered to its passengers.

Art in Istanbul Airport…

As an airport shining out with the support it has given to culture and art, Istanbul Airport aims to improve its passengers’ travel experience with the museum recently put into service, while acquainting every tourist that comes to Istanbul with Turkish culture and also contributing to national tourism.

While aiming at increasing our passengers’ interest from all over the world, Istanbul Airport Museum is planned to offer its passengers with a different concept every year. The museum that will exhibit pieces bequeathed to global cultural history by Anatolian civilizations has also sections dedicated to children. The museum is also provided with interactive playgrounds and practices that will make children explore and acquaint themselves with the most precious artefacts of our culture.

In addition, the museum also offers introductory information on 18 sites in Turkey listed as World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO. Istanbul Airport Museum exhibition illustrates 316 different pieces from 29 museums from all around Turkey, and exhibition space with an area of 1000 square meters was designed by Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry. The museum is open between 09:00-21:00 every day, admission is 5 Euro and the museum offer free admission to visitors under 8 years old.

“We want Istanbul Airport to become center for the meeting of culture and arts”

Commentating on the opening of Istanbul Airport Museum, Kadri Samsunlu, CEO and Director General at İGA Airport Operation Inc, made following statements: “Airports hold an important place in our lives as they are the first stop for people to discover new places. With this mindset, we are continuing our efforts at Istanbul Airport with the objective to turn the time spent at the airport into a unique travel experience. Our aim is to make our passengers get rid of travel stress by turning their focus on art and culture, and thus enjoy a nice and memorable travel experience. The “Turkey’s Treasures: Faces of the Throne” collection to be exhibited at our museum, will comprise artefacts of the prehistoric Göbeklitepe and Çatalhöyük eras, along with historic artefacts belonging to Anatolian civilizations and the Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk, Ottoman and Republican periods. The exhibition involves an animation on the 15 eras that left an indelible mark in history, and the leaders and emperors who represent each of these eras. With this museum, we have been able to gather some original artefacts under a single roof, which would otherwise be impossible to set eyes on at a single time. Every passenger setting foot on Turkey will now have the chance to see all highly significant artefacts of our history in a single museum. We want Istanbul Airport, which is a global hub and a worldwide meeting point already, to be a meeting center for culture and art together with the museum where 316 pieces from 29 museums will be exhibited. We plan that Istanbul Airport Museum, serving as a manifestation of the importance we attach to culture and art, will also contribute to the promotion of our country. We will succeed in making great contribution to our country’s tourism if, hopefully, we can leave a mark on foreign passengers flying from our airport with the cultural values ​​of our country and thus pave the way for these passengers to opt for our country in their next flight. As I always prefer to emphasize, all we do is centered on people – always will, always has. Hence, we will for sure continue to support every project at Istanbul Airport that will touch people and create value for Turkey.”