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İznik Museum

İznik Museum

A 14th-century soup kitchen with an unusual inverted-T plan, turned into the museum of ancient Nicaea, with finds from prehistory to the Ottoman era and a garden of stone fragments.

About the museum

The İznik Museum sits in a building that is itself a highlight: the Nilüfer Hatun Imaret, a charitable kitchen built in 1388 in memory of the mother of Sultan Murad I. It is counted among the finest Ottoman buildings of the 14th century, and one of the first Ottoman imarets laid out on an inverted T plan.

Look at the walls before you go in. The builders alternated three courses of brick with one of stone, giving the facade a warm, banded look. A portico of domes and vaults leads to an inscribed door and a main hall crowned by a dome with a lantern, with domed side rooms opening from it.

After years as a store, the building was restored and opened as a museum in 1960. The collection gathers finds from İznik and its surroundings, from prehistoric times to the Ottoman period, including material from the excavations at Ilıpınar, the Roman theatre and the İznik tile kilns. The garden shows Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman pieces such as capitals, sarcophagi, reliefs, inscriptions and Islamic gravestones.

Tips

  • Near the museum you will find the walls of ancient Nicaea and the famous İznik tile tradition; a stroll through town pairs well with the visit.
  • Other museums nearby include the Bursa Archaeological Museum and the Bursa Ottoman House Museum.

Questions

When is İznik Museum open?

According to the Ministry’s listing it opens at 08:00 and closes at 17:00 (last entry 16:30). Closed: Monday.

Can I buy tickets for İznik Museum on this site?

No. This site sells no tickets. Topkapı Palace, the Basilica Cistern, Hagia Sophia and Dolmabahçe Palace are sold on our sister sites; for İznik Museum, buy at the ticket office or on the Ministry’s official e-ticket system.

Where is İznik Museum?

İznik Museum is in Bursa, Türkiye — Mahmut Çelebi Mahallesi Sultan Orhan Caddesi No:1 İznik/Bursa.

Nearby

Bursa

Ottoman House Museum

A 17th-century Bursa house beside the Muradiye complex, opened as a museum in 1958, with painted and carved woodwork on its upper floor.

Bursa

Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum

Bursa's museum in the Green Madrasa, with tiles, woodwork, metalwork, coins and costume from the Seljuk, principality and Ottoman periods, plus a garden of Bursa tombstones.

Bursa

Bursa Archaeological Museum

Türkiye's third-oldest museum, founded in 1904, whose collections run from the Miocene to the Byzantine era, including the Paşalar fossil elephant and a gold olive diadem.

Bursa

Yenişehir Şemaki House Museum

A two-storey 18th-century house in Yenişehir, near Bursa, furnished as a family home, with hand-painted flower and landscape motifs on its walls.

More museums in Bursa

Istanbul tickets online

Four Istanbul landmarks, each sold on its own site by the agency behind this guide — dated entry and free cancellation up to 24 hours.