Büyük Saray Mozaikleri Museumvisitor guide.

HOME OF DAILY LIFE, NATURE, AND MYTHOLOGY MOSAICS# Uncovered through excavations begun in 1935 in the northeastern quarter of the peristyle courtyard of the Eastern Roman Great Palace, the mosaics are magnificent both in artistic execution and in the narrative richness of their descriptive scenes. While works exhibited in the Great Palace Mosaics Museum date between 450 and 550 AD, the mosaic subjects carry no religious content. Scenes from daily life, nature, and mythology owe their vitality to execution by numerous master artists guided by leading masters of the age. Situated in the Arasta Bazaar of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque Complex, the museum was created to enclose the partially surviving mosaic pavements belonging to the northeastern peristyle courtyard of the Eastern Roman Great Palace. Only an area of 180 square meters of mosaic flooring has survived to the present day. The Great Palace Mosaics Museum was attached to Istanbul Archaeology Museums in 1953, and became affiliated with the Hagia Sophia Museum Directorate in 1979. Restoration and conservation work begun in 1982 under a protocol between the General Directorate of Monuments and Museums and the Austrian Academy of Sciences was completed in 1997. FROM A GRIFFIN DEVOURING A LIZARD TO A MAN MILKING A GOAT Mosaic tesserae of limestone, terracotta, and colored stones average 5 mm in size. A fish-scale technique was applied on the white marble background areas, with opus vermiculatum figures set between marble tesserae, outlined with distinct contours. Prominent mosaics portray a griffin devouring a lizard, an elephant fighting a lion, a mare suckling her foal, children herding geese, a man milking a goat, a boy feeding his donkey, a young girl bearing a pitcher, bears eating apples, and a hunter battling a tiger. The mosaics feature 150 human and animal figures across 90 different themes. WHILE YOU ARE HERE Make sure to visit the Sultan Ahmed Mosque! Commissioned by Sultan Ahmed I in the 17th century to architect Sedefkar Mehmed Ağa, one of Mimar Sinan's students, it is known as the 'Blue Mosque' for 21,043 eye-catching İznik tiles adorning its walls up to the second row of windows. Minarets possess 14 balconies because Sultan Ahmed was the 14th Sultan. It is one of the largest complex structures in Istanbul with its külliye. Sultan Ahmed I's Tomb directly adjoins the mosque courtyard. DOWNLOAD MUSEUM BROCHURE NEARBY MUSEUMS GALATA TOWER MAIDEN'S TOWER RUMELI FORTRESS ISTANBUL TURKISH AND ISLAMIC ARTS MUSEUM ISTANBUL ARCHAEOLOGY MUSEUMS HAGIA SOPHIA HISTORY AND EXPERIENCE MUSEUM