Museum Day from Bahri Baba to Kültürpark
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This is the day your Müzekart earns its keep. Open with the two neighbouring museums in Bahri Baba Park, grab a quick kumru in Kemeraltı at noon, then walk through Kültürpark to the Painting and Sculpture Museum at the İzmir Culture and Arts Factory in Alsancak (the History and Art Museum inside the park closed in 2025 and its collection moved to the same campus). In the late afternoon switch to painting with the small but choice rooms of Arkas Sanat and Selçuk Yaşar in Alsancak. About five kilometres of walking in all, but the parks in between rest your feet. Made for rainy days.
Route Stops
Izmir Archaeology Museum.
Enter at opening, 8:30; an hour for the Poseidon and Demeter statues and the bronzes.
Izmir Ethnography Museum.
Move to the building in the same garden. Allow forty-five minutes for the evil-eye bead furnace and the carpet looms.
The Historical and Lively Shopping Center of İzmir: Kemeraltı Bazaar
Go down to the bazaar for lunch; a kumru on the go, or a longer lunch in a han courtyard, your call.
Located in the Konak district of İzmir, Kemeraltı Bazaar is one of the oldest and largest open-air markets in Turkey, with a rich history dating back to the 17th century. This area has been the center of trade since the Ottoman period and is a popular destination for both local and foreign visitors due to its historical atmosphere and vibrant character.
With its narrow streets, historic inns, mosques, coffee houses, and traditional shops, Kemeraltı offers much more than a classic bazaar. Here, you can find a wide variety of products such as gold and silver jewelry, spices, leather goods, antiques, handmade carpets, textile products, and souvenirs. The authentic atmosphere of the bazaar transforms shopping into a delightful and unique experience.
Kızlarağası Inn is one of the most important historical structures in the bazaar. Built in the 18th century during the Ottoman period, this inn now hosts craft shops and coffee houses for its visitors. Especially tasting Turkish coffee brewed over coals in its historic coffee houses is among the top things to do in Kemeraltı.
Kemeraltı also draws attention with its mosques and synagogues that house İzmir's cultural heritage. Hisar Mosque, Şadırvan Mosque, Salepçioğlu Mosque, and Beth İsrael Synagogue are among the religious structures that should be seen in the bazaar.
The bazaar, which is crowded and lively throughout the day, also offers delicious options to its visitors in the evening with its famous dessert shops, restaurants, and small taverns. One of İzmir's most beloved street foods, boyoz and kumru, are must-try delicacies in Kemeraltı.
For those who want to feel the historical texture and explore different cultures while shopping, Kemeraltı Bazaar is one of the best places that reflects the spirit of İzmir.
The Heart of Art: İzmir Museum of Painting and Sculpture
When you enter the campus at Ziya Gökalp Bulvarı 36, first stand for a minute among the brick facades, because this was a factory before it was a museum. According to Wikipedia, the Alsancak Tekel Factory processed tobacco from 1884 to 2004; according to a report by Anadolu Agency, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism restored the buildings in 2022, and the campus of twenty thousand square metres, with twelve of its buildings given new functions, opened on 29 April 2023 under the name İzmir Culture and Arts Factory. The İzmir Painting and Sculpture Museum is in the second largest building of the factory; follow the signs at the entrance and go to this building first. According to the museum's own page, the institution opened on 9 September 1952 as a gallery in the Ministry of Education building inside Kültürpark, moved in 1973 to its building in Konak and stayed there until 2022. The institution's page names that first building as a design by the architect Bruno Taut. According to Wikipedia, the Konak building stood near Konak pier, on Atatürk Bulvarı, on land belonging to Ege University. When the Konak building was damaged in the earthquake of 30 October 2020, the collection returned to Kültürpark, began service there on 25 March 2022, and opened to visitors in its present home in April 2023. So the park you have just walked through is both the place where this museum was born and the place where it took shelter after the earthquake; the route follows that story in reverse.
Inside, according to Anadolu Agency, there are four main galleries and two temporary exhibition halls, and about four hundred works are on display; another AA report from 2025 gives the number as three hundred and fifty, so the number of works on show changes from time to time. The collection covers painting, sculpture, ceramics and original prints from the Tanzimat period to the present day. Walk through the halls in chronological order and look in the first galleries for early painters such as Şeker Ahmed Paşa and Hoca Ali Rıza. In the following halls come the works of İbrahim Çallı, Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu and Fahrelnisa Zeid; look for Füreya Koral in the ceramics cases and for the sculptor Turgut Pura in the sculpture section. According to Wikipedia, the weight of the collection lies in twentieth-century Turkish painting and sculpture, and there is a considerable group of works by Turgut Pura. Ask at the entrance about the programme in the temporary exhibition halls, because the museum also mounts thematic shows during the year. Photographing the works without flash is usually allowed, but check with the attendant in each hall and do not step over the tapes around the sculptures.
If you have time left, look into the other buildings on the same campus; the Archaeology and Ethnography Museum right next to the museum holds thousands of objects, and AA mentions the roughly 2,300-year-old pieces of the Belevi Mausoleum here, so if you could not see them in Kültürpark, you will find the griffins of Belevi here. The campus also has the Atatürk Specialised Library, the Alsancak Public Library, the Turkic World Music Specialised Library and a children's library; AA writes that the libraries welcomed more than four hundred thousand visitors in 2024. According to the same agency's report of 2023, the Turkic World Music Specialised Library holds close to a hundred thousand books and the Alsancak Public Library forty thousand. According to Wikipedia, the Painting and Sculpture Museum today works under the İzmir Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism. The Müze Kart page shows the campus open every day, but check the hours and the fee on its official website before you go. The benches in the courtyard suit the last break of the day; the tall chimney and brick walls of the factory photograph well in evening light. The route ends in this courtyard. For the way back you can walk a few minutes from the campus to Alsancak Station and take İZBAN, or go down to the Kordon and close the day by the sea.
Source: İzmir Kültür Sanat Fabrikası; Anadolu Ajansı; Müze Kart; Wikipedia; Wikipedia.
Housed since April 2023 at the İzmir Culture and Arts Factory in Alsancak (the former Tekel factory campus) in İzmir's Konak district, the Izmir Museum of Painting and Sculpture opens its doors to art lovers as one of Turkey's most important art museums. Established in 1952 and possessing a rich collection over time, the museum houses some of the finest examples of both classical and contemporary Turkish art.
The museum has a wide collection in the fields of painting, sculpture, and ceramic art. It includes a broad range of works from 19th-century Ottoman art to contemporary modern art. Works by master artists such as Osman Hamdi Bey, İbrahim Çallı, Hikmet Onat, Şeker Ahmet Paşa, and Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu are among the most striking pieces in the museum.
The sections of the museum are as follows:
- Classical Turkish Painting Section: Contains important works from the late Ottoman period to the early years of the Republic.
- Contemporary Art Section: Hosts abstract and figurative works by leading figures of Turkish modern art.
- Sculpture and Ceramic Section: Exhibits works by famous Turkish sculptors and ceramic artists.
The Izmir Museum of Painting and Sculpture not only displays art pieces but also offers an interactive experience for anyone interested in art by organizing art workshops, exhibitions, and educational programs. The museum hosts various temporary exhibitions throughout the year, providing art lovers with a constantly renewing cultural atmosphere.
The museum opened in 1952 as a gallery in Kültürpark and moved to its Konak building in 1973; when that building was damaged in the earthquake of 30 October 2020 the collection first returned to Kültürpark and then, in April 2023, opened to visitors in its present building at the İzmir Culture and Arts Factory. Check the museum's official page for opening hours and admission.
Arkas Art, Alsancak.
Fifteen minutes' walk to Alsancak; an hour for the temporary show, open until 8 p.m. on Thursdays.
Selçuk Yaşar Painting Museum.
A few streets away, the masters of Turkish painting; close the day with tea on the Kordon, you have earned it.
