Museum of the History of Science and Technology in Islam

About this place

In stables that once housed the sultans' horses beneath the walls of Topkapı Palace, al-Jazari's Elephant Clock stands at full scale, surrounded by some 800 instruments and models explaining how the scholars of Baghdad, Córdoba and Cairo measured the sky, mapped the earth and treated the body. Know this before you go in, though: the museum shows what the manuscripts described, not what survived them. Almost everything was reconstructed at Fuat Sezgin's institute in Frankfurt from old texts and drawings, and you will struggle to find an original object. Visitors who arrive knowing that enjoy it; those expecting archaeological treasure leave puzzled. There are twelve sections and astronomy is the strongest: astrolabes of every size, models of the instruments used at the Maragha observatory and at Taqi al-Din's observatory in Istanbul, and celestial globes that explain how prayer times and the direction of the qibla were calculated. Clocks and navigation follow, then medicine, with al-Zahrawi's surgical tools looking uncannily like what surgeons use today, then chemistry, optics, mining and military technology, and a copy of the Piri Reis map in the geography room. Outside in the courtyard sits a large globe carrying the world map drawn up on the orders of Caliph al-Ma'mun in the ninth century, next to a small garden of the medicinal plants named in Ibn Sina's Canon; the courtyard alone is worth a pause with children. Practically, this is one of the rare quiet corners of Sultanahmet: no queue, and no tour group elbowing you away from the clock. Labels are in Turkish and English only, with no Arabic, but the names of al-Jazari, Ibn al-Haytham, al-Biruni and al-Khwarizmi are enough for an Arab reader to find their bearings. The corridors are level and wide, fine for a pushchair, and the whole visit takes an hour or a little less. Take the T1 tram to Gülhane and walk a few minutes into the park. When does it earn the ticket? Once you have done Hagia Sophia and Topkapı and want a cool hour away from the crowds, especially in August heat, when the shade of Gülhane Park and the museum's cool halls are a genuine relief. Pair it with the neighbouring Archaeological Museums in the same park, and if you hold a Museum Pass Istanbul it is already covered. What it does not deserve: half a day, or a dedicated trip over from the Asian side.