The Istanbul Archaeology Museums () are a group of three archaeological museums located in the Eminönü quarter of Istanbul, Turkey, near Gülhane Park and Topkapı Palace. The Istanbul Archaeology Museums consists of three museums: Archaeological Museum (in the main building) Museum of the Ancient Orient Museum of Islamic Art (in the Tiled Kiosk). It houses over one million objects that represent almost all of the eras and civilizations in world history. Background The origins of the museum can be traced back to the nearby Hagia Irene Church. After the conquest of Istanbul, the church's location close to the barracks of the Janissaries saw it transformed into a de facto ‘inner arsenal’ for storing their weapons ( İç Cebehane in Turkish). By 1726, during the reign of Sultan Ahmed III, it functioned as a full-fledged armory known as Dar-ül Esliha, or “House of Weapons” in Turkish. By the 19th century, the church was also being used to store the varied artifacts amassed by the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Sultan Abdülaziz (r. 1861–1876) was impressed by the archaeological museums in Paris (30 June – 10 July 1867), London (12–23 July 1867) and Vienna (28–30 July 1867) which he visited in the summer of 1867, and ordered a similar archaeological museum to be established in Istanbul. It was then, in 1869, that the church and the works in it were inaugurated by decree under the name of "Müze-i Hümayun" (Ottoman Turkish: Müze-i Hümayun or Turkish: İmparatorluk Müzesi). As such, the Istanbul Archaeological Museum is often considered the “first museum of Turkey”. History Due to space constraints, the museum and its collection was transferred to the Tiled Kiosk (Turkish: Çinili Köşk) between 1875 and 1891. Commissioned by Sultan Mehmed II in 1472 as a pleasure palace, it is the oldest non-religious Ottoman structure in Istanbul and retains a visible Persian influence in its style and architecture It was first opened to the public in 1953 as the Fatih Museum, to showcase Turkish and Islamic art, and was later incorporated into the Istanbul Archaeological Museum. Appointed to the role in 1881, the first curator and founder of the museum was Osman Hamdi Bey, Painter, Archeologist and son of Ibrahim Edhem Pasha, an Ottoman Grand Vizier. An accomplished artist, in 2019 his painting “Girl Reading the Quran” sold for 6.3 million British pounds, making it the most expensive Turkish painting at that time. Throughout the 19th