Military Museum, Istanbul

Location :    Cultural Center of Askeri Muze (Military Museum) is located at  Harbiye, nearby Taksim, center of modern Istanbul.

Map :  

*** Click on the map for a larger view                                             *** Click on the map for a larger view

*** One can take a HAVAS airport bus to come to Taksim Square,  which costs aroud 10-12 Turkish Lira  (5-6 Euro) oneway;  and it takes only 30-45 minutes to come to Taksim.  Or you can find airport transfer info at the website of organizing tour operator  Travel e22 .  

*** For the map of Hotel locations &  Military Museum,  please click here.

Military Museum has around 5000 pieces of military historical objects on display, out of some 55000 pieces in the store rooms. Some of the objects date back to as old as 15th century of Ottoman Empire. The attempts to establish a museum by the Ottoman historians goes back to 1846 and the Military Museum was in fact the first museum of the Ottoman Empire.

The military building complex that hosts the Military Museum today was extensively renovated and restored in 1966. There are a number of halls with valuable military objects from the Ottoman history as well as modern Turkey.

  

MEHTER

Besides being a museum, the building complex is used for a number of activities by the Turkish Army. One of them is the performances by the MEHTER BAND.

 

Ottoman military bands are thought to be the oldest variety of military marching band in the world. Though they are often known by the Persian-derived word mahtar (مهتر; mehter in Ottoman Turkish) in the West, that word, properly speaking, refers only to a single musician in the band. In Ottoman, the band was generally known as mehterân (مهتران, from the Persian plural mahtarān), though those bands used in the retinue of a vizier or prince were generally known as mehterhane (مهترخانه, meaning roughly, "a gathering of mehters", from Persian "house of the mahtar"). In modern Turkish, the band as a whole is often termed mehter takımı ("group of mehters").

The history of Mehter which is considered as the oldest military of the world, reaches to Orhun inscriptions that are the oldest written sources of Turkish history from VIIth century. Mehter, today, is a splended monument of Turkish heroism and understanding of domination reaching to universal dimensions. The first military band of the World history carries the emotive rhytms of ancient Turkish music to the present time.

The clothing of Mehter has the distinct characteristics and beauty with regard to its color and cut. It’s possible to see all the colors on their costumes. The instruments used are shrill pipe,pipe,kos drum, kettle drum,bell and human voice.

Mehter, considered as the beginning of the history of military music and the founder of world’s military bands, today, continues its actions in the constitution of Istanbul Military Museum and Culturel Center which belongs to the General Staff.