Sadberk Hanım Museum

Sadberk Hanım Museum, as Türkiye’s first private museum, was established on 14 October 1980 in the Büyükdere neighborhood of the Sarıyer district of Istanbul by the Vehbi Koç Foundation. The museum derives its name from Sadberk Koç, the wife of Vehbi Koç. Its founding purpose was to make Sadberk Koç’s personal collection accessible to the public and to preserve the cultural heritage. The museum initially opened to visitors with a collection consisting of traditional handicrafts, clothing, decorative objects, and Ottoman-era ethnographic artifacts.

Sadberk Hanım Museum.(Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Türkiye)

Architectural Features and Buildings

The Sadberk Hanım Museum consists of two separate wooden buildings constructed in the late 19th century: the Azaryan Yalısı and the Sevgi Gönül Binası. The Azaryan Yalısı is a three-story structure with an attic floor, inspired by European vernacular architecture. It was built on a stone foundation using timber and bağdadi construction techniques. The building was purchased by the Koç family in 1950 and used as a summer residence until 1978. Between 1978 and 1980, it was converted into a museum according to a restoration project prepared by Sedat Hakkı Eldem and opened to the public in 1980. Due to its wooden decorations and reliefs on the façade, it is also popularly known as the “Vidalı Yalı”.

Sadberk Hanım Museum.(Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Türkiye)

The Sevgi Gönül Binası was created through the restoration of another building adjacent to the Azaryan Yalısı, believed to have been constructed in the early 20th century. This structure was acquired by the Koç Foundation in 1983 for the purpose of exhibiting the collection of Hüseyin Kocabaş. The building was reconstructed according to a restoration project prepared by Ibrahim Yalçın and opened on 24 October 1988. The façade of the reinforced concrete building is clad in wood, while the side walls are finished with marble that imitates wood. The ground floor houses a multipurpose hall and a conservation laboratory, while the upper floors display archaeological artifacts. Due to its modern exhibition system, the museum was awarded the Europa Nostra Award in 1988.

Sadberk Hanım Museum.(Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Türkiye)

Collections and Exhibited Artifacts

At its founding, the museum’s collection comprised approximately 3,000 artifacts. Through subsequent donations and acquisitions, this number has grown to over 20,000. Originally based on Sadberk Koç’s collection of traditional handicrafts, decorative objects, and Ottoman textiles, the museum acquired archaeological artifacts from collector Hüseyin Kocabaş in 1983, thereby gaining the status of an archaeological museum. In the Azaryan Yalısı, exhibits include Ottoman-era textiles, garments, objects produced in Europe and the Far East for the Ottoman court, and items related to Islamic art. In the Sevgi Gönül Binası, archaeological remains from Anatolian civilizations, spanning from the 6th millennium BCE to the end of the Byzantine period, are displayed in chronological order.

Sadberk Hanım Museum.(Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Türkiye)

Visit and Contact Information

The Sadberk Hanım Museum is located at Piyasa Caddesi No: 25 in the Sarıyer district of Istanbul. The museum is open daily from 10:00 to 17:00, except on Wednesdays and on the first day of New Year’s Day and religious holidays.