Miniaturk

Miniaturk opened on 2 May 2003 on the north-eastern shore of the Golden Horn, laying out 135 models at one twenty-fifth scale - 60 from Istanbul, 63 from Anatolia and 13 from former Ottoman lands - across a park of some 60,000 square metres, among the largest miniature parks in the world. The selection covers monuments from across Anatolia and Istanbul - Hagia Sophia, Süleymaniye, the Selimiye at Edirne, Nemrut's stone heads, Ephesus, Sümela clinging to its cliff, Cappadocian rock churches - plus Ottoman-era buildings now outside the country's borders and reconstructions of lost wonders such as the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. Some models move: trains run, a ship works its way along, the Bosphorus bridge lights up. It is aimed at families and school groups, and it is genuinely useful for a first-time visitor deciding where in the country to go, since it shows in an afternoon what would otherwise take weeks of travel. Around the models are a café, a small maze and a play area. Nobody would call it subtle, and it does not pretend to be more than what it is.

What you'll find

• The scale models - 135 monuments at one twenty-fifth.
• The moving pieces - working trains, ships and lighting.
• The national spread - Anatolian sites alongside Istanbul's.
• The Golden Horn setting - the park on the waterside.

When to go

April to June and September to October - the park is entirely outdoors and offers little shade in summer. Weekday mornings avoid the school groups.

Before you go

It is a model park aimed at children and first-time visitors, not a museum. Fully outdoors, so weather decides the visit. It is out on the upper Golden Horn with no metro at the door.

Nearby

The Rahmi Koç Museum is along the same shore; Eyüp and Pierre Loti hill are further up.

Key facts