Museum of the History of Islamic Science and Technology

Museum of the History of Islamic Science and Technology, located in the Has Ahırlar Building within Istanbul Gülhane Park, was opened in 2008 under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Fuat Sezgin. The museum exhibits artifacts and models documenting the contributions of Islamic civilization to science and technology between the 9th and 16th centuries. Within a total exhibition area of 3,500 square meters, 585 instruments, devices, models and replicas have been prepared based on ancient manuscripts and sources.

^{İslam Bilim ve Teknoloji Tarihi Müzesi (}T.C. İstanbul Valiliği⁾

The establishment of the Museum of the History of Islamic Science and Technology is rooted in the decades-long research and pioneering work of Islamic science historian Prof. Dr. Fuat Sezgin. In the 1980s, Prof. Dr. Sezgin began producing scale models of scientific instruments developed in the Islamic world at the Institute for the History of Arabic-Islamic Science at Frankfurt University. This initiative gained new momentum with a proposal by then Minister of Culture and Tourism Atilla Koç to establish a similar museum in Istanbul.

Following studies that began in 2005, the museum, planned to be housed in the Has Ahırlar Building within Istanbul’s Gülhane Park—a structure dating to the Ottoman period—was opened to the public on 24 May 2008. Since its founding, the museum has aimed to systematically and visually present the scientific heritage of Islamic civilization and demonstrate that the history of science constitutes a unified and interconnected structure.

^{Usturlaplar (}T.C. İstanbul Valiliği⁾

The museum is housed architecturally within the historic Has Ahırlar Building from the Ottoman period. This structure was built adjacent to the palace walls within Gülhane Park on the historic peninsula. Originally used during the Ottoman era to house the horses of the sultan and his close circle, the building has been transformed into a museum space dedicated to showcasing scientific and cultural heritage. The museum spans a total exhibition area of 3,500 square meters and consists of two floors.

On the upper floor, visitors find a planetarium hall and sections dedicated to astronomy, timekeeping technology, navigation, military technology, and medicine. On the lower floor, exhibits feature models related to metallurgy, physics, mathematics and geometry, urban planning and architecture, optics, chemistry, and geography.

^{İslam Bilim ve Teknoloji Tarihi Müzesi İçi (}T.C. İstanbul Valiliği⁾

In the outdoor area of the museum lies the Ibn Sina Botanical Garden, opened in 2013, which features 26 medicinal plants described in Ibn Sina’s work el-Kanun fi’t-Tıbb, alongside a replica of the world map drawn in the 9th century by Abbasid Caliph al-Ma’mun. This section attracts visitors by offering tangible examples of the history of medical botany.

In terms of its contribution to the history of science, the museum serves as a bridge between East and West, making visible the scientific legacy that Islamic civilization has contributed to human history. The museum documents and presents, through educational methods, models and replicas of inventions, discoveries, and theories developed by Islamic scientists between the 9th and 16th centuries, highlighting the scientific productivity of this era.