Istanbul Postal Museum

The Istanbul Postal Museum, aka PTT Museum Istanbul, is a postal museum dedicated to the historical development of mail and telecommunication services in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey, exhibiting related equipment and instruments as well as a collection of postage stamps. It was established in 2000 by the Turkish Post, and is situated inside the Grand Post Office building at Sirkeci quarter of Fatih district in Istanbul, Turkey.Museum buildingThe Main Post Office, which houses the museum, is a historical four-story building designed by architect Vedat Tek in First Turkish National architectural style. It was constructed between 1905 and 1909 during the last period of the Ottoman Empire as the building of the Ministry of Post and Telegraph. Later, it was turned into a post office.The museum has a separate entrance and occupies four stories in the western part of the building. It informs visitors about the country's history of communication and telecommunication services that officially began on October 23, 1840 with the foundation of the Ottoman Ministry of Post. Established on May 6, 2000 by the Turkish Post, the museum consists of four sections for mail, telegraph, telephone and postage stamps. Photos taken during the construction of the building are also on exhibit.