Beykoz Glass Museum

Glass Museum History

Although the Glass Museum was used as a barn at that time, it was used as “Beykoz Glass and Billurat Fabrika-i Hümayunu“, that is, a glass factory, which means the place where glass production was made in the last periods of the Ottoman Empire. The historical building, which was used as a glass factory for a while during the Republican period, later served as the Beykoz Glass and Billur Museum affiliated to the National Palaces.

Abraham Pasha received most of his education abroad. Pasha, who completed his education at a college in Paris, spoke three languages, excluding Turkish. The “U” shaped barn building he had built in a large area in Beykoz was used as a glass factory for a while and then turned into a Glass Museum.

The Glass Museum, which was restored and opened by the National Palaces, consists of 12 different sections. Although glassware used in the Ottoman period is dominant, artifacts from the Seljuk period are also exhibited. In addition to local works, French made glassware (perfume bottle, gas lamp, etc.) are exhibited.

There is even a French-made royal carriage right at the exit of the museum. This horse carriage, which comes out with the perfect harmony of glass and mirror, is definitely worth seeing.

How to Go to Beykoz Glass Museum?

Where is the Glass and Billur Museum located in Beykoz District on the Anatolian side of Istanbul and how to get there?

It is located very close to the Beykoz Ferry Port, almost within walking distance. If you wish, you can reach from almost anywhere in Istanbul by sea. It can be reached by buses with line number IETT 15F.

Those who want to go to the Glass Museum by car can reach it via the Riva Road or by using the Beykoz Beach Road (Kelle İbrahim street). You should definitely see the Glass Museum, which is in a very easy location to go.

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Glass Museum Entrance Fees

Entrance fees vary depending on whether you come to the museum by car or on foot. Parking fee, garden ticket and museum entrance fees are charged separately.

The Glass Museum visitor entrance fee schedule is as follows:

Parking Fee

If you want to enter the Glass and Crystal Museum in Beykoz with your car, a parking fee of 15 ₺ is charged. This fee is collected from you when you enter from the outer gate of the museum and is valid throughout the day.

Glass Museum Garden Ticket

If you want to enter the garden section of the Glass museum on foot, you have to pay 5 TL per person.

Glass Museum Exhibition Section Entrance Fee

Guests who come to visit the Beykoz Glass and Billur Museum pay a separate fee for the garden section and separately for the museum-exhibition section. Visitors who will enter both sections without a discount pay a total of 20 ₺ per person.

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Sections of Beykoz Glass and Crystal Museum

Let’s visit the open sections of the Glass and Crystal Museum in Beykoz, one of Istanbul’s famous historical museums and exhibition palaces.

1. Garden Section

The garden section of the museum has a very large area. In this section, the single-lane vehicle road and the centuries-old plane trees around it create a very fascinating sight. Most of the visitors take photos in this part.

The garden section of the museum is home to 117 different tree and plant species, mostly from the Ottoman period. It also has the appearance and features of a botanical garden.

2. Glass and Crystal Museum Exhibition Section

When you enter from the middle courtyard of the stone building located in the eastern part of the garden, you will see the museum entrance on the left. After paying your Glass Museum Entrance Fee to the staff here, we pass through the turnstiles and enter the exhibition palace.

The section where the glassware used in the first ages of history is exhibited has a very eye-catching beauty. During the historical excavations, daily used glass items such as glasses, plates and oil lamps, which were removed from the mounds, have survived to the present day. This is because glass is not easily dissolved in the soil as a raw material. It can take tens of thousands of years for the silicon element in its composition to mix into the soil.

In the museum, where approximately 1780 pieces of products produced in Anatolia and Europe are exhibited, you almost go on a journey into the history of glass. Since it is forbidden to take photos in the exhibition section of the museum, I could not share photos here.

You witness the development of glass, which has been transformed into a work of art by the masters in the glass furnace, in chronological order.

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The section that caught my attention the most was undoubtedly the section where Ottoman period glassware was exhibited. This part of the glass museum is quite ostentatious and frankly, it has a beauty that you cannot take your eyes off. Glass demijohns and knitted baskets, which are carried from the holy lands to the ground floor, fascinate us with their first day’s splendor.

In the next section, you cannot take your eyes off the historical products such as glass chandeliers and gas lamps.

Occasionally, French made gas lamps, perfume and cosmetic bottles, and glass cologne bottles made in Cologne in Germany form an idea about the history of European glass. The French-made Regency Car, which you will see in the final, is a masterpiece.

In the museum exhibition, you will see items made of mirrors and porcelain, as well as glass. The Chinese vases and the ceramic art on them are quite impressive.

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3. Cafe and Gift Shop

As soon as the exhibition section is over, on the other side of the turnstile, there is a cafe where you can eat and drink and a gift shop where souvenir glassware is sold. You can buy handmade and single model (uniq) glass products. You can see artistic design glass products such as handmade glass necklaces, bracelets, pens, hourglasses, magnets, glasses and vases.

I recommend you to buy souvenirs as souvenirs, which are at a very reasonable price. The fact that its products are uniq, that is, a single model, adds a different beauty. Because no one else will find the same product as you. Necklaces or bracelets, which cost an average of 40-50 ₺, are the most preferred gift glass products.

4. Glass Workshop

As soon as you exit the cafe section, the door on the left opens to Beykoz Glass Workshop. Here, only children’s glass craftsmanship is taught symbolically.

A wonderful activity for children is organized in the glass furnace until 17:00. Glass Workshop usage fee is 50 TL and you can pay in the gift section. Under the supervision of the glass master, your children take turns designing glass necklaces and bracelets in the colors they choose.

Glass models designed by children in the workshop are presented to you in a gift box after they harden and cool after 20 minutes.

Although there is a fee to attend the activities in the Glass Workshop section, there is no charge to watch. Your children become aware of their own skills in this art center.

5. Playground

There is an unusual children’s playground in the garden of Beykoz Glass and Billur Museum. A surprise awaits us in the playground, where all the play equipment is made of wood. The white rabbits found here have become the focus of attention of children. Children who feed the rabbits with carrots take great pleasure in it.

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Thanks to the tracks that push the limits in the wooden playground, they have a good time with activities that push the limits.

If you come to the museum and the children get bored with the closed area of the museum, the playground will be a super solution.

6. Library

The library, which contains publications on glass art, is located on the mezzanine floor of the cafeteria section of the Glass Museum. World classics and books about glass for children are in the Glass Workshop section. This section is completely free to use.

FAQ About Beykoz Glass and Crystal Museum

Museum Photo Gallery

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Beykoz Cam Muzesi

Other Glass Museums of Turkey

Among the other museums where glass art is exhibited in Turkey, the most famous ones are those in Eskişehir and Gaziantep.

Gaziantep Medusa Archaeological Glass Museum is a milestone in terms of witnessing the historical development of local glass products.

The museum in Eskişehir is operated by the Metropolitan Municipality. The real name of the museum located in Odunpazarı district is Contemporary Glass Arts Museum.

In fact, a Glass Exhibition was opened in Antakya recently. The Antique Glass House, designed by Şadi ASFUROĞLU, the famous glass artist of the region, sheds light on the glass culture of the region.

The second glass museum in Istanbul is also in Paşabahçe village of Beykoz district. It is in the category of a special museum and workshop. Similar children’s activities and glass exhibitions are also available at the Paşabahçe Glass Museum.