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Kocaeli Archaeological Museum

Kocaeli Archaeological Museum

İzmit's archaeology and ethnography museum in the old railway-station complex, with finds from the Palaeolithic to the Ottoman period and a fine coin collection of ancient Nicomedia.

About the museum

The museum stands in İzmit's Old Station area, a site planned by the German Otto Ritter, with buildings raised between 1873 and 1910. The complex was treated as a whole and restored. The old station building now serves as the regional conservation board, while the museum uses a repair workshop, water tower and staff housing that were part of the original layout.

Two former tobacco-monopoly warehouses were joined to create the exhibition halls for archaeological and ethnographic objects. The museum moved here from a mansion and opened in 2007 with a renewed display. Its rooms hold finds from the Palaeolithic, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman periods, and the museum carries out rescue excavations that bring in a great many artefacts every year.

The coin collection at the entrance is a highlight. It ranges from Archaic and Classical to Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic and Ottoman issues, with special interest in the coinage of Nicomedia, the ancient city on which İzmit stands. Look for the commemorative coin of Nicomedes II showing the goddess Demeter and the coin naming Hadrian Restitutor Nicomediae.

Tips

  • The museum is closed on Mondays; check the official Ministry of Culture page for current hours.
  • The Atatürk, Redif and Ethnography Museum in İzmit is a natural second stop.

Questions

When is Kocaeli Archaeological Museum open?

According to the Ministry’s listing it opens at 09:00 and closes at 17:00 (last entry 16:30). Closed: Monday.

Can I buy tickets for Kocaeli Archaeological 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 Kocaeli Archaeological Museum, buy at the ticket office or on the Ministry’s official e-ticket system.

Where is Kocaeli Archaeological Museum?

Kocaeli Archaeological Museum is in Kocaeli, Türkiye — Kozluk, İstasyon Cd. No:5, 41200 İzmit/Kocaeli.

Nearby

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Atatürk, Redif and Ethnography Museum

A restored 19th-century Ottoman reserve-army building in İzmit, later a military court, now a museum on Atatürk, the Redif force and local ethnography.

Kocaeli

İzmit Hunting Lodge Palace Museum

Kasr-ı Hümayun, Sultan Abdülaziz's marble-fronted hunting lodge in the centre of İzmit, the only Ottoman palace built outside Istanbul.

Kocaeli

Osman Hamdi Bey Museum

The seaside villa, studio and boathouse at Eskihisar where Osman Hamdi Bey, painter and pioneer of Turkish museology, spent his summers.

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.