Topkapı Palace
The sultans’ palace on Sarayburnu: courtyards, the Imperial Council, the treasury and the terraces over the water. Dated entry, sold online on its own site.
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.
About the museum
This museum is housed in a building with a military past. After the Edict of Gülhane in 1843, Ottoman lands were divided into army regions, and the Redif was created as the reserve force for them. İzmit hosted the first Redif headquarters, and the İzmit Redif Office was built during the reign of Sultan Abdülaziz (1861-1876) by the governor of İzmit, Hasan Pasha, alongside the Kasr-ı Hümayun.
Records show that fire damaged the military depot here in the 1880s and that a new warehouse, munitions store and service building followed. The structure carries an inscription of 1889-1890, though its architect is unknown. Until the 1999 earthquake it served the 15th Corps Command as a military court.
The provincial special administration restored it, and it opened in 2011 as the Atatürk and Redif Museum. Inside you will find displays connected with Atatürk, the Redif organisation and the region's ethnography, all in a rare surviving example of Ottoman military architecture in İzmit.
Tips
- The museum is closed on Mondays; confirm days and hours on the official Ministry of Culture page before you go.
- Kocaeli's archaeological museum, in the old railway-station area, is a natural second stop.
Questions
When is Atatürk, Redif and Ethnography 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 Atatürk, Redif and Ethnography 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 Atatürk, Redif and Ethnography Museum, buy at the ticket office or on the Ministry’s official e-ticket system.
Where is Atatürk, Redif and Ethnography Museum?
Atatürk, Redif and Ethnography Museum is in Kocaeli, Türkiye — Kemalpaşa Mahallesi, İnönü Cd. 80-1, 41200.
Nearby
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
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.
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.
Basilica Cistern
Justinian’s great underground reservoir: 336 columns in still water and the two Medusa heads. Fast-track entry with a digital audio guide.
Hagia Sophia
Justinian’s cathedral, the sultans’ mosque and a working mosque again today. The ticket admits you to the upper visitor gallery.
Dolmabahçe Palace
A nineteenth-century palace on the water’s edge: the Selamlık, the Ceremonial Hall under its chandelier, the crystal staircase and the Harem.