Pera Museum

The Pera Museum occupies a converted 1890s hotel building in Tepebaşı and was opened in 2005 by the Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation. It has three permanent collections and a serious temporary programme. The Orientalist painting collection is the draw: European artists' images of Ottoman life, useful as much for what they reveal about the painters as about the subject, and dominated by Osman Hamdi Bey's The Tortoise Trainer of 1906 - a Turkish painter working within and against that genre, and now one of the most recognisable paintings in the country. The other two collections are Kütahya tiles and ceramics, and Anatolian weights and measures, both quieter and both good. Temporary exhibitions have brought in Warhol, Botero, Goya and Escher among others, and the museum also runs a small cinema. It is compact, well lit and easy to do in two hours, which makes it a sensible rainy-afternoon option off İstiklal.

What you'll find

• The Tortoise Trainer - Osman Hamdi Bey's 1906 painting.
• The Orientalist collection - European images of Ottoman life.
• The Kütahya ceramics - tiles and vessels across the centuries.
• The weights and measures - the Anatolian metrology collection.

When to go

Year-round; it is an indoor museum and works well in bad weather. Closed on Mondays. Check the temporary programme, which is often the main reason to go.

Before you go

It is a private museum with a ticket price above the state museums. Permanent collections are compact - two hours covers everything. Photography rules vary by exhibition.

Nearby

İstiklal Avenue is a minute away; Galata Tower and the Mevlevi lodge are downhill.

Key facts