The Sadberk Hanim Museum (Sadberk Hanim Muzesi) is a private museum dedicated to the late Sadberk Koç, who was the wife of Vehbi Koç. Vehbi Koç was also a businessman, who founded the Koç Group -the largest holding company of Turkey- as well as the Vehbi Koç Foundation. Located in Sariyer -the most northern district on the European side of Istanbul- prior to conversion into a museum, the building was one of the mansions (yali) on the shore of the Bosphorus owned by the Koç Family (Azaryan Mansion). After two years of restoration work, Azaryan Mansion was converted into a museum and the Sadberk Hanim Museum opened its doors in 1980. In 1983, the Sadberk Hanim Museum expanded after the purchase of its neighboring mansion and it was named Sevgi Gönül Building.
The Sadberk Hanim Museum consists of two buildings i) Azaryan Mansion and ii) Sevgi Gönül Building. And they have different collections. Archaeological objects from Neolithic Period (6500 BC) to Ottoman Period (the 1300s) form the collection of the Sevgi Gönül Building, whereas Turkish-Islamic and Ottoman objects are being exhibited in Azaryan Mansion. The collection of Sevgi Gönül Building consists of clay tablets, potteries, figurines, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine coins, ornaments, and so on. On the other hand, the collection of the Azaryan Mansion section consists of Turkish-Islamic objects from Seljuqs, Safavids, Ottomans, and other Turkish-Islamic civilizations.
Thousands years old cuneiform tablets that are exhibited in the first floor of the Sevgi Gönül Building of the museum.
Byzantine coins decorated with the portraits of the Byzantine emperors exhibited on the third floor of the Sevgi Gönül Building.
Iznik ceramic collection , which is one of the leading ceramic collections in the world, and it is exhibited in the first floor of the Azaryan Mansion.
Ottoman women clothes dating to eighteenth and nineteenth centuries exhibited in the second floor of the Azaryan Mansion.
Located in Sariyer, the easiest way to get to the Sadberk Hanim Museum is to take a bus going to Sariyer and get off at Beyaz Park bus station. The museum is only three-minutes walking distance from Beyaz Park bus station.
Sadberk Hanim Museum is open everyday except Wednesdays between 10:00 am and 5:00 pm. The entrance fee is 50 TL.