Naval Museum

Naval Museum review

Announced by a roadside garden full of big guns, the museum is housed in two separate buildings on the Bosphorus. The larger building holds an extensive collection of model ships, mastheads and oil paintings, along with plenty of booty captured from British and French warships sunk during the abortive Dardanelles campaign of World War I. Upstairs are commemorative plaques to Turkish sailors killed on duty from 1319 to the Cyprus war of 1974, as well as the battle flag of Barbarossa, the notorious 16th-century pirate. Downstairs, you'll find just about everything that wasn't nailed down on Atatürk's yacht, the Savarona, including a set of silver toothpicks.

The smaller building houses an impressive collection of Ottoman caiques. At one time, these elegant vessels were as symbolic of the city as the gondola is to Venice. Back then, boats rivalled the horse and carriage as the common mode of transport. The sultans' caiques were rowed by Bostancı, an imperial naval unit that doubled as palace gardeners. The largest caique on display, a 1648 model, required some 144 Bostancı to power it along. The oarsmen were apparently required to bark like dogs as they rowed, so that they wouldn't overhear the sultan's conversations. An enterprising Black Sea firm has made modern replicas that convey tourists to the city's smarter hotels, although, regrettably, the banks of oarsmen have now been replaced by an outboard motor.