Beykoz Glass Museum awaits visitors

ISTANBUL

The Beykoz Glass and Crystal Museum, which opened on April 9 with an official ceremony attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan after restoration works, is now awaiting visitors.

The museum, which was established to introduce Turkish glass art to the world in a closed area of approximately 3,000 square meters and on an area of 390,000 square meters, is home to 1,500 artifacts from the Seljuk era to the end of the Ottoman period.

The building, which takes its name from the Beykoz Glass and Billurât Fabrika-i Hümayunu in the Ottoman period, was built by Abraham Pasha, who was appointed by Sultan Abdülaziz as a vizier.

The building, which was a barn and has survived to the present day after its construction, was restored by the National Palaces in three years.

The museum, where works produced in Europe for the Ottoman palaces are also exhibited, consists of 12 thematic sections. Among them the Kubadabad plate draws significant attention. It is made with the free blowing technique and decorated with enamel and gilding, dating back to 1237-1246.

Built with modern museum criteria, the museum presents visitors Mamluk lamps, Ottoman arches, European glasses, glass garden, crystal piano and the sultanate car of the Sultan Mahmud II, decorated with colored glass.

A library on glass art was also established in the museum. The library with 600 works in Turkish and foreign languages, a temporary exhibition area, an educational workshop for children, a café offering outstanding tastes and a gift office where glass works are offered for sale have also been put into service.

The forest field within the museum area is a kind of botanical museum as it is hosting 117 different tree species.

The museum can be visited between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. every day within the framework of the COVID-19 measures.

Speaking to the press members, the head of the National Palaces Administration, Yasin Yıldız, said that the Abraham Pasha Grove, on which the museum was built, was one of the most important 19th century Istanbul groves.

Stating that the building was built by Abraham Pasha, a state dignitary during the Abdulaziz period, he said, “We have 360,000 square meters of the structure today. This place was affiliated to the National Palaces Administration in 2018 after being idle for many years.”

Noting that the barn building inside the private grove has survived until today, Yıldız said that considering the place of Beykoz in the glass art of the country, the idea of designing this place as a glass museum emerged.

Yıldız noted that the restoration of the venue and the garden was completed within three years, adding, “Our concept project was developed by an international delegation. Among 12,900 glass works in the inventory of the National Palaces, 1,500 were specially selected by our esteemed scientists. The museum was opened with a treasure, a significant part of which is the only example in the world.”