Sakıp Sabancı Museum

Sakıp Sabancı Museum review Rate it

Owned by one of Turkey's wealthiest businessmen, this museum is housed in a fabulous villa right on the shores of the Bosphorus, built for Egyptian royalty in the 1920s. The steeply sloping lawns are scattered with stone treasures on loan from the Archaeology Museum.

Inside are two floors of exceptionally fine ceramics and calligraphy, with informative English texts. A modern extension in glass, steel and marble holds a collection of 19th- and 20th-century Turkish art that unfortunately fails to do justice to its coolly elegant surroundings: the paintings play second fiddle to the panoramic views. However, the museum occasionally hosts major touring exhibitions by the likes of Picasso and Rodin, which pull in big crowds.