Carpet Museum

Istanbul’s Carpet Museum has displayed Anatolian carpets from the Seljuk and Ottoman periods in three galleries near Hagia Sophia, in Sultanahmet. The collection traces changes in pattern, colour and craft, with carpets and prayer rugs gathered from across Anatolia. Touchscreen displays explain motifs and their meanings. The museum’s display has also been reported as closed during a period of collection storage and institutional reorganisation, so check for a current closure notice before making the stop part of your day.

From mosque textiles to a museum collection

The collection’s history is tied to carpets and other devotional textiles once used in mosques. Older pieces passed from mosque interiors and storage rooms into the care of the foundations directorate. Some were donated, while others were worn, stored and inventoried before being conserved.

The museum began at Sultanahmet in 1979. In 2013, carpets were displayed in Mahmud I’s former Ayasofya İmareti, a charitable complex beside Hagia Sophia. Its original public kitchen included a dining hall, kitchen and bakery, and provided food for poor people and students.

Three galleries of Anatolian weaving

The display was arranged around historical periods. One gallery focused on early Anatolian work, another on carpets from central and eastern Anatolia during the Ottoman period, and a third on later Ottoman carpets. The collection also included prayer rugs and kilims.

A saf prayer rug shows how design served a practical purpose: its repeated mihrab shapes helped worshippers form rows. Touchscreen displays provided further information about patterns and their meanings. The museum’s display phase in the Ayasofya İmareti has been reported as over, with the collection in storage during institutional reorganisation. Check its current status before visiting.