Sadberk Hanım Museum

Sadberk Hanım Museum, established on 14 October 1980 in the Büyükdere neighborhood of the Sarıyer district of İstanbul by the Vehbi Koç Foundation, is Türkiye’s first private museum. The museum derives its name from Sadberk Koç, wife of Vehbi Koç. Its founding purpose was to make Sadberk Koç’s personal collection accessible to the public and to preserve the cultural heritage. The museum first opened to visitors with a collection consisting primarily of traditional handicrafts, clothing, decorative objects and Ottoman-era ethnographic artifacts.

^{Sadberk Hanım Müzesi.}(TC.Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı)

Sadberk Hanım Museum consists of two separate wooden buildings constructed in the late 19th century: the Azaryan Yalısı and the Sevgi Gönül Binası. The Azaryan Yalısı is a three-story building with an attic, inspired by European vernacular architecture. It was constructed on a stone foundation using wood and bağdadi techniques. Purchased by the Koç family in 1950, the building served as a summer residence until 1978. Between 1978 and 1980, it was converted into a museum according to a restoration project prepared by Sedat Hakkı Eldem and opened to the public in 1980. Due to its wooden decorations and reliefs on the façade, it is also popularly known as the “Vidalı Yalı”.

^{Sadberk Hanım Müzesi.}(TC.Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı)

Sevgi Gönül Binası was created through the restoration of another building adjacent to the Azaryan Yalısı, believed to have been constructed in the early 20th century. The building was acquired by the Koç Foundation in 1983 for the purpose of exhibiting the collection of Hüseyin Kocabaş. Restored according to a project prepared by İbrahim Yalçın, the structure was rebuilt and opened on 24 October 1988. The building is constructed of reinforced concrete; its façade is clad in wood, while its side elevations are finished with marble plaster designed to resemble wood. The ground floor houses a multipurpose hall and a conservation laboratory, while the upper floors display archaeological artifacts. In 1988, the museum was awarded the Europa Nostra Award for its modern exhibition design.

^{Sadberk Hanım Müzesi.} (TC.Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı)

At its founding, the museum’s collection comprised approximately 3,000 artifacts; through subsequent donations and acquisitions, this number has grown to over 20,000. Originally based on Sadberk Koç’s collection of traditional handicrafts, decorative objects and Ottoman textiles, the museum acquired the status of an archaeological museum in 1983 with the addition of archaeological artifacts from the collection of Hüseyin Kocabaş. In the Azaryan Yalısı, exhibits include Ottoman-period textiles and garments, objects produced in Europe and the Far East for the Ottoman court, and items related to Islamic art. In the Sevgi Gönül Binası, archaeological remains from Anatolian civilizations spanning from the 6th millennium BCE to the end of the Byzantine period are displayed chronologically.

^{Sadberk Hanım Müzesi.}(TC.Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı)

Sadberk Hanım Museum is located at Piyasa Caddesi No: 25 in the Sarıyer district of İstanbul. The museum is open daily from 10:00 to 17:00, except on Wednesdays and on the first day of New Year’s Day and religious holidays.