Çinili Köşk

The oldest building in the Istanbul Archaeology Museums complex, standing in its garden. The tile inscription over the entrance dates it to 1472, when Mehmed the Conqueror had it built in the outer garden of Topkapı Palace. The two-storey stone building, with a cross-shaped plan of four iwans around a central hall, continues an architectural tradition that reached Anatolia from Central Asia by way of Iran. Its facade and interior are clad in turquoise and cobalt tiles in the mosaic technique, and a Kufic inscription in white tiles runs across the entrance arch. A columned portico was added after a fire in 1737. Today, as a unit of the Archaeology Museums, it displays the collection of Turkish tiles and ceramics, including İznik tiles.