The Carpet Museum (Vakıflar Halı Müzesi) is housed in the Ayasofya İmareti, a charitable soup kitchen built in 1742-1743 by Sultan Mahmud I against the north-east side of Hagia Sophia. Run by the General Directorate of Foundations (Vakıflar), it opened in 1979 in the imperial pavilion of the Blue Mosque, closed in 2006 to be redesigned, and reopened on 15 November 2013 in its present building. It holds one of the richest carpet collections in Turkey, from the Turkish principalities of Anatolia to the Ottoman period. It is a short, quiet visit to slot in between two big Sultanahmet sights. Allow thirty to forty-five minutes. Opening hours and ticket price are not published on the official pages consulted in October 2026, and online sources contradict each other about the museum's status: call +90 212 518 13 30 before you set out.
Highlights
The Uşak carpets
From the 15th to the 17th century the workshops of Uşak, in western Anatolia, wove the medallion and "star" carpets most prized in Europe, the ones you see in Renaissance paintings. The museum shows several, including carpets with the çintamani motif (three balls and waves).
The prayer carpets (saf)
A saf is a communal prayer carpet with several niches (mihrab) side by side, unrolled in a mosque for several worshippers. These pieces, among the most spectacular in the collection, show how Ottoman workshops varied a single arcade design.
The three chronological galleries
The route follows the history of the carpet, from the period of the Anatolian beyliks to Ottoman production, with animal-pattern, medallion and prayer carpets, then Iranian and Caucasian pieces. Digital displays explain pattern names and weaving techniques.
Infos pratiques
Tips
The carpets are fragile and shown in low light: avoid flash. The museum is run by the Vakıflar rather than the Ministry of Culture, and it is not on the list of sites in the Museum Pass Istanbul; see our guide to the Museum Pass and Müzekart. To buy a carpet you do not need a museum: the Grand Bazaar and the Arasta Bazaar, behind the Blue Mosque, sell them, and the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts also shows antique carpets, with published opening hours.
How to get there
Ayasofya İmareti, Sultanahmet, Fatih, Istanbul, against the north-east side of Hagia Sophia. Tram T1, Sultanahmet stop, then a few minutes on foot towards Hagia Sophia. The Blue Mosque and the Hippodrome are right next door.
Opening hours
Our guides that feature it
Nearby
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