Florence Nightingale Museum, Istanbul

Of all the unusual museums in Istanbul this one is for sure the most unusual and wonderful. Now we’ll tell you why.

Let’s start with the building. In the 18 century it was the barracks for the guards of the sultan, the Janissaries. In the 16th century there was a magnificent palace Kavak Sarayi. It belonged to the Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, who was famous as a legislator, ruler and strategist. But Suleiman did not like the palace, so that the building was abandoned and later demolished to build the barracks instead. It happened relatively late, in the late 18th century, especially on the orders of Sultan Selim the Third. He sought to eliminate economic backwardness from European armies. This caused dissatisfaction among the adherents of olden times and during the uprising of the Janissaries the barracks were burned. But the rebellion was suppressed, the Janissaries dissapeared, and in the mid 19th century the barracks were rebuilt again. It was the headquarters of the First Turkish Army in the Western model.

Now let’s talk about the man in whose honor they’ve named the museum. This is a nurse from the UK, Florence Nightingale. She arrived in Istanbul during the Crimean War and selflessly cared for the wounded. They had opened a museum here in her honor. Here you can see the exhibits connected not only with Florence herself, but also with the history of the Crimean War. The history of the First Army and the interior of the tents of officers and soldiers, views of the old Istanbul, letters, photographs, documents, medallions...

Despite the fact that the military garrison is still located here, the museum is opened to the public.