1. Turkey as a historical site
With the vast majority of Moslems citizens, Turkey is a large country consisting of many areas. Almost all of the historical sites in Turkey are well-preserved.
Settled at the crossroads between 2 continents, the magnificent Turkey gets its influence from each corners from Romans to Asians. It was the home of Byzantium Empire and the famous Ottoman Empire. It was Turks who brought Islam religion in Europe and today, Turkey is a secular country with modern and ancient facades standing next to each other.
Perhaps almost every part of Turkey contains history and myths. Take Ephesus for example. It is a city full of ancient ruins that it will take you approximately 2 hours to go around sightseeing in the site. The city consists of ancient houses, gates, public bath, library, brothel and temples. It is just like a city from the past that still exists till today.
Apart from that, Istanbul is a modern city that also full of history.

2. Describing Istanbul
Istanbul, as the biggest city in Turkey portrays the urban life and the ancient traces in one place. Many Turkey tours come to Istanbul to guide people from all over the world as they are eager to witness the magnificent beauty of Istanbul.
The tourist attractions in Istanbul are very well managed and the collections of artifacts are well preserved. This is also one of the reason why visitors find Turkey is a wonderful open air museum. Places like Istanbul and Ephesus contain open air museums that portray nature wonder and men made architecture.
For the tourists, Istanbul is a convenient place to stay. You can either stay in a guest houses or feel the luxury of 5 star hotels. At night, clubs and bars are opened to entertain you and your peers.
Finding good food in Istanbul is very easy. Many stalls sell kebabs and dolmas delicious enough to satisfy your appetite.

3. The Museums
In terms of museums, Istanbul has numerous museums that collect different types of property. You can go to Modern art museum to find contemporary pieces, you can go to Military museum to find the ancient weapon used during the reign of Ottoman Sultans, you can also witness an old train in Rahmi Koc Museum. some museums in Turkey are open air venues. The Cappadocia and some fortresses are open for public visit. Each museums has different rule and fee applied.
And to visit all of the museums cannot be done in 2 or 3 days. The Rahmi Koc for instance, requires 2 hours to complete the area.

Last but not least, if you love arts and culture, then the right place to go is the Turkish and Islamic Art museum.

4. Turkish And Islamic Art Museum
Turkish and Islamic Art Museum was the last museum opened during Ottoman empire. Just like its name, the museum is a combination of Turkish culture and art all in one. This magnificent museum is establish due to the fact that many precious properties from the past had been stolen by irresponsible persons from mosques, shrines, and more. To avoid this thing from happening again, all of the arts and artifacts all over the country are then transferred to museums, one of them is to Turkish and Islamic Art Museum.

5. The History of Turkish and Islamic Art Museum
Turkish and Islamic Art Museum was opened for the first time in 1913. The first name was The museum of Muslim Endowments. It was located near Suleymaniye mosque.

After some time, the museum is relocated in Ibrahim Pasha complex- the palace dedicated for Ibrahim Pasha the Grand Vizier.

Ibrahim Pasha's ability to defeat enemies was loved by the Sultans. He was entrusted to be commander in chief during Suleyman empire. He was a well educated man and he converted to Islam and named Ibrahim Pasha. He was the only stranger to accompany the Sultan during lunch and dinner. He was also trusted to marry Sultan's sister.

The Ibrahim Pasha complex was a gift from the Sultan and it has a private passage that directs to the Hippodrome where the royal families enjoy horse racings. Today, the complex houses several public places include the Islamic art museum. The exhibition ranges from calligraphy, seals, treaties and more.

6. What is inside the Turkish and Islamic Art Museum?
Despite the various displays of arts and stuffs, the museum focuses on Islamic arts and the Turkish arts during Ottoman empire in 20th century. There are more than 30,000 pieces of art artifacts from pre historic to present time.

Carpet collections
Collections range from carpets and rugs- you will find rare rugs from Seljuk and Europe that dated from decades ago- to manuscripts and ceramics. The section that exhibits carpets is quite interesting. It collects the world's most expensive carpets and prayer rugs. Other types of carpets found in the museum is Caucasus and Iran carpets. Other than that, you can also find ethnographic pieces that represent Islamic development in Turkey.

A little of Umayyad culture
The Umayyad arts for instance, portray the first Islamic architectural design that had been influenced by Byzantium art. Umayyad arts utilize stones for their material and most of them found in Syria. The art also used the combination of stones and bricks with mosaic as decorations on each piece. Other decoration used is Stucco. The stucco covers some of the artwork and it became popular later on. For construction, woods were utilized to build domes and doors. The influence can be tracked back during Roman empire that used wood for columns
About 2,000 carpets are exhibited inside this museum. They are superb in quality and essential in term of history. Some people say that this museum is a carpet museum due to the vast collections from around the world.

Manuscripts
The manuscripts on the other hand, depict the Islamic stories from 1st century whilst the metalwork portrays Turkey development in Anatolian region from 9th century.

Calligraphy
Another section worth a visit is the calligraphy area. It features handwriting of Qurans and other manuscripts dated from 6th to 19 centuries. Ancient handwritten books including warrants that bear the Sultan real signature are also exhibited here.

Woodwork
A spacious place contains woodworks dated from the 10th century. Visitors are able to see the woodcrafts from Anatolia that has wide array of types from cases for Quran to drawers. The beauty of this crafts lay on their carving and ornaments.

Stones and ceramics
Stone arts from Seljuk and Emevi are also displayed at the museum. There are writings and pictorial presentation during Ottoman empire.

On the other side, ceramic sections displays arts of ancient Islamic on glasses as well as the Ottoman's artwork. These arts dated from 8th century. There is also a collection of art candles.

There is also a collection of metal works from Seljuk. Interesting pieces can be seen from furniture accessories such as knobs, mirrors, and doors.

Other specific displays are:
€ Jewelries: gems, pearls, bronze
€ Funeral belts
€ Carved doors
€ Miniatures of Ottoman
€ Kab keys

During your Istanbul daily sightseeing in this museum, you will also find wide collections of pottery and glassware collected from the excavation process. These pottery arts have different types that can identify the presence of ancient arts and skils. Each of the stonework bears inscription that tells you the information about what it is for. Adding to this collection, an ethnographic section is established recently.

The museum also accommodates temporary exhibitions from national to international scale. In 2014, the museum will be 100 years old and this is a true example of a museum should be.

On the first floor, you will see wide array of Islamic lives in Turkey with arts and Ottoman worlds dominating the room.

7. Additional information
The Turkish and Islamic Art Museum is part of a big museum in Istanbul.
The information on each pieces are in English, thus