MAKING A MUSEUM
Excavations carried during the restoration of Zeyrek Çinili Hamam have revealed thousands of tile fragments and archaeological artifacts, all surprise findings. Thus, was born the Zeyrek Çinili Hamam Museum, as a result of the desire to share the fifteen-century-old cultural heritage of the district together with the hammam. Featuring a contemporary design complementing the architecture of the hammam, artifacts and objects in the museum’s collection date back to the 5th century and can be traced step by step until the 20th century.
TILE GALLERY
TILE GALLERY
The Tile Gallery transports you on a journey of discovery of the 16th-century splendid blue and white Iznik tiles exclusively manufactured for the hammam. The gallery hosts a selection from around three thousand fragments of 16th-century tiles manufactured exclusively for Çinili Hamam in Iznik and recovered during the excavations, the discovery story of the tiles starting from production until their arrival in museums around the world, 37 tile patterns reconstructed after extensive research, and a digital board showing tile sequences representing the layout of the tiles at the time of the hammam’s construction. The small display of artifacts exploring the relationship of tile art with Ottoman pottery-making and the restoration tools display add another dimension to the narrative of the gallery.
37 PATTERNS
37 PATTERNS
Thirty-seven different tile patterns have been digitally complemented through comparative analyses of the tiles existing in the inventories of various museums, collections, and documents with the tile fragments found in the excavations and on the walls.
HAMMAM CULTURE GALLERY
The Hammam Culture Gallery explores various aspects of the hammam, which was an indispensable part of Ottomans’ daily life until the 19th century. The nalıns and hammam objects donated to the museum are accompanied by information on hammam culture and people as well as historical depictions of hammam. The hammamiye tiles, found in their non-original place before the restoration and displayed here are some of the most significant items in the collection. The archaeological finds shown in this gallery shed light on the social and cultural aspects of the hammam.
HAMMAM’S ARCHAEOLOGY
Artifacts found during the excavations follow an uninterrupted chronology extending from the early Byzantine period to the modern Republic of Türkiye. These artifacts consist of glazed and unglazed terracotta vessels, oil lamps, glass bottles, coins, metal artifacts from the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman periods in line with the chronology of Istanbul and around three thousand tile fragments.
collection highlights
Embroidered towel
Comb with case
Gülabdan (rose water flask)
Bathing bowl
Embroidered bundle
Nalın
Embroidered towel
Comb with case
Gülabdan (rose water flask)
Bathing bowl
Embroidered bundle