The Museum of Innocence (Masumiyet Müzesi) sprang from the imagination of Orhan Pamuk, winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. The writer conceived it alongside his novel of the same name, published in 2008, which follows the obsessive love of Kemal, the son of a wealthy Istanbul family, for his distant cousin Füsun in the Istanbul of the 1970s and 1980s. Opened in 2012 in a red house in Çukurcuma, the museum displays the objects Kemal is supposed to have collected, in showcases that follow the chapters of the book. It won the European Museum of the Year Award in 2014. A ticket costs 800 TL for foreign visitors (prices checked in October 2026). Allow an hour, longer if you have read the novel and want to match each showcase to its chapter.
Highlights
The house in Çukurcuma
The museum occupies a narrow old house painted red, on the corner of a sloping lane. In the novel, this is the house where Füsun's family lives and where Kemal comes to dinner for years. It is visited over several levels, from the ground floor up to the attic.
The 4,213 cigarette butts
On the ground floor, a large glass wall displays the 4,213 cigarette butts Füsun is said to have smoked, each one pinned and accompanied by a small handwritten note. It is the most photographed showcase in the museum, and the most unsettling.
The chapter showcases
On the upper floors, each box corresponds to a chapter of the book and composes a scene from ordinary objects: earrings, salt shakers, bottles, photographs, cinema tickets, toys. Together they also form a portrait of the daily life of Istanbul's middle class at the time.
The attic room
Under the roof, the room where Kemal is supposed to have spent his last years and told his story to the writer ends the visit, with its iron bed and handwritten pages of the novel.
The lanes of Çukurcuma
The museum stands in the heart of a district of steep streets known for its junk shops and antique dealers. Take time to wander before or after your visit: some lanes open onto a view of the Galata Tower.
Infos pratiques
Tips
A ticket costs 800 TL for foreign visitors; Turkish citizens pay 400 TL, or 200 TL reduced (teachers, students, visitors over 65). The audio guide costs 50 TL. Admission is free for children under 12, ICOM card holders, professional tour guides, disabled visitors and the press, with proof; prices checked in October 2026. The novel contains a printed admission ticket in its last chapter. The official website does not mention free entry with this ticket: it only says that it can be stamped at the ticket desk. Bring your copy as a keepsake, but budget for the admission price. Only the ground floor is wheelchair accessible, and the museum has no parking.
How to get there
Firuzağa Mahallesi, Çukurcuma Caddesi, Dalgıç Çıkmazı No: 2, 34425 Beyoğlu, Istanbul. Tram T1, Tophane stop, then about 8 minutes' walk uphill. The museum is about 8 minutes' walk from Galatasaray Square, on [İstiklal Avenue](/fr/attractions/avenue-istiklal), and 12 minutes from Taksim Square. Combine your visit with [Istanbul Modern](/fr/attractions/istanbul-modern), about ten minutes' walk downhill towards the Bosphorus, or with the [Pera Museum](/fr/attractions/musee-pera).
Opening hours
Nearby
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