New Museum in Istanbul: The New Old Imperial Mint

W ow, that looks great!” On this sunny day at the beginning of November, Ayşe and her family took the ferry from the Asian side of Istanbul to the European side of the city to see the newest attraction in the Turkish metropolis. On the historic peninsula, directly below Topkapi, the Sultan's Palace of the Ottoman Empire, historic land lay fallow for many decades. Now it has been rebuilt and opened to the public these days.

The Imperial Mint, the place where the Ottoman Sultans had their silver, gold and copper coins minted for centuries, was newly opened. In other words, the currency whose value was guaranteed by the Ottoman rulers and which allowed trade to flourish from Bosnia in the northwest of the great Ottoman Empire to the mouth of the Euphrates and Tigris in the southeast.

For days, Turkish media reported on the five new museums that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan himself had ceremoniously opened. And despite the propaganda associated with it, this was perhaps finally an appointment beyond the daily economic and political misery. That's what the Istanbulis hoped.

And then they were also curious about what was being offered to them in the usual propaganda language. The Imperial Mint became a big topic of tea house conversation and many people also went there to see it for themselves. The last time the entire area was accessible was around 20 years ago. Afterwards, the gates of the buildings closed and the coin disappeared from the memory of most Istanbulis.

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But now you can enter it again and the result is actually impressive. The historic buildings have been carefully restored; on the paths in the winding area you can still see the tracks on which the wagons used to transport metal were once pushed back and forth between the buildings. Today only part of the exhibition is directly dedicated to the former coin production.

In the other buildings there are exhibitions for which there was no space in the Topkapi Palace for decades. Ayşe is particularly enthusiastic about the palace's porcelain collection. Fountains splash in a courtyard and exotic plants uphold the dream of the Orient. A nice café has also found its place here.

Her husband is more enthusiastic about the weapons collection, where everything that was used in hand-to-hand combat can be admired, from the scimitar to the first reloader. Historical maps can also be seen, including one of the oldest maps of the Strait of Hormuz, which Sinbad the Sailor had to pass through on his way from Basra to India.

The Imperial Mint is one of the few new cultural places for everyone, beyond the culture war between Islamic morality and secular freedom. In times when artists are persecuted for alleged obscene content and religion is again being used for political purposes, as was the case with the conversion of Hagia Sophia from a museum to a mosque, the mint is a cultural resting place where not only the Ottoman Empire is glorified, but also pre-industrial manufacturing work can be experienced. And at the same time, we are reminded of the advantages of a value-based hard currency compared to today's inflationary paper money.

In addition, the coin has not yet arrived on the tourist map of professional tour guides. While the crowds pile up in front of the Topkapi Palace, you can relax and enjoy the coin. In any case, the visitors are mostly impressed. Ayşe said she had “enjoyed a peaceful afternoon” on the way back to the hustle and bustle of the city.