In the afternoon, our hosts had kindly organised a visit of the Military Museum located a short walking distance from the Officers’ Club and Istanbul Convention and Exhibition Centre. This museum began life in the Saint Irene Church and was then moved in 1950 to the First Army Headquarters building which is now the Military Museum and Cultural Centre. The building was renovated and on 10 Feb 93, re-opened with a successful and contemporary display concept. It is home to approximately 50 000 items, of which only 5 000 are exhibited, in 22 rooms, in chronological order making it easy to track your progress through the museum. The collection of items includes historical weapons, uniforms, and tools of the various military periods. One of the historical military tools exhibited is the chain that was used by the Byzantines to stretch across the mouth of the Golden horn to keep out the Sultan’s Navy in the 1453 Constantinople siege. Other tools include a vast array of bows and arrows, curved daggers and lancets, various forms of armour for both man and horse, and the modern weaponry of rifles. Of particular interest to me, was the depiction of the Battle of Gallipoli. And, of course, there is a room dedicated to the most famous of Turkish military commanders, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who studied in the building when it was the military academy between 1899 and 1905.
The Museum is also home to the world’s oldest military band – the Mehter band. Dressed in traditional uniforms, they give concerts of traditional Turkish marching music each afternoon and we were there to witness it today.
Dinner was probably taken in the Officers Club with an after-dinner drink in the rooftop bar.
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