Pera Museum

Behind the grand façade of the former Bristol Hotel lies this up-to-date art museum focused on 19th-century art and Orientalism. The star in its permanent collection is ‘The Tortoise Trainer’ by Osman Hamdi Bey, an oil painting from 1906-7 that satirises the difficulty of reforming the Ottoman Empire. Alongside its permanent and temporary exhibitions of paintings, the museum displays a vast collection of Anatolian weights and measures, tiles and ceramics. Check out the programme of arthouse films and cultural events.