The Istanbul Postal Museum, aka PTT Museum Istanbul ( tr, PTT İstanbul Müzesi), is a

postal museum A postal museum is a museum dedicated to the display of objects relating to the postal service. A subcategory of postal museums are philatelic museums, which focus on philately and postage stamps. List of postal and philatelic museums Afric ...

dedicated to the historical development of

mail The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal sys ...

and

telecommunication Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that ...

services in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

, 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 The Istanbul Grand Post Office ( tr, Büyük Postane), or Istanbul Main Post Office, is an office building for postal services located in the Sirkeci neighborhood of the Eminönü quarter within the Fatih district of Istanbul, Turkey. It was desig ...

building at Sirkeci quarter of

Fatih Fatih () is a district of and a municipality (''belediye'') in Istanbul, Turkey, and home to almost all of the provincial authorities (including the governor's office, police headquarters, metropolitan municipality and tax office) but not the co ...

district in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

Museum building

The Main Post Office ( tr, Büyük Postane), which houses the museum, is a historical four-story building designed by architect

Vedat Tek Mehmet Vedat Tek (1873–1942) was a Turkish architect who was one of the leading figures of the First Turkish National Architectural Movement. Early life and education Of Cretan Muslim origin, Vedat Tek was born in Istanbul to the governor of ...

(1873–1942) in First Turkish National architectural style. It was constructed between 1905 and 1909 during the last period of the

as the building of the Ministry of Post and Telegraph ( ota, Posta ve Telgraf Nezareti). 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 ( ota, Posta Nezareti). 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.

Mail

Examples of various uniforms worn by military couriers and

mail carrier A mail carrier, mailman, mailwoman, postal carrier, postman, postwoman, or letter carrier (in American English), sometimes colloquially known as a postie (in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom), is an employee of a post ...

s from the Constitutional era in the beginning of the 20th century and from the Republican era after 1923 to present time can be seen fitted on dolls and mannequins. Historical postal service items like

mail satchel A mail satchel is a type of mail bag that a letter carrier uses over-the-shoulder for assisting the delivery of personal mail on a designated route. Etymology and word origins *According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word ''mail'' i ...

mail pouch A mail pouch or mailpouch is a container for mail, designed to transport first-class, registered mail, domestic mail and military mail. It usually has a drawstring, and is made of a stronger material (''e.g.'', canvas) than mail sacks (''e.g. ...

es,

mail sack A mail sack or mailsack is a mail bag used to carry large quantities of mail. Different handling and security requirements for different classes of mail is integral to the postal rate structure. A mail sack is not a locked bag since they need ...

letter box A letter box, letterbox, letter plate, letter hole, mail slot or mailbox is a receptacle for receiving incoming mail at a private residence or business. For outgoing mail, Post boxes are often used for depositing the mail for collection, althou ...

es, locator maps,

franking machine A postage meter or franking machine is a mechanical device used to create and apply physical evidence of postage (or franking) to mailed items. Postage meters are regulated by a country's postal authority. A postage meter imprints an amount o ...

s from the Ottoman and Republican era are on display.

Telegraph

An inscription plate of the first telegraph office shows the year 1855. A painting depicting a battle scene from the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

(1853–1856) affiliates with the first use of telegraphy in the Ottoman Empire on September 9, 1855. A telegraph was dispatched from

Shumen Shumen ( bg, Шумен, also romanized as ''Shoumen'' or ''Šumen'', ) is the tenth largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and economic capital of Shumen Province. Etymology The city was first mentioned as ''Šimeonis'' in 1153 by t ...

(

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

, then Ottoman Empire) to the capital Istanbul relayed in

Edirne Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis ( Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders ...

. The message reads "Allied troops entered Sevastopol." ( ota, Asâkir-i müttefika Sivastopol'a girmişlerdir.) to report the victory of the Allied troops, along with the Ottomans, ending the

Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855) The siege of Sevastopol (at the time called in English the siege of Sebastopol) lasted from October 1854 until September 1855, during the Crimean War. The allies ( French, Sardinian, Ottoman, and British) landed at Eupatoria on 14 September ...

during the Crimean War. On the third floor, the telegraphy room of clerk Hamdi Bey of Monastır (today Bitola in

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

) is preserved unchanged from those days with all the historical equipment. He was in charge when the Allied troops of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

(1914–1918) occupied Istanbul on March 16, 1920 following the

Armistice of Mudros Concluded on 30 October 1918 and taking effect at noon the next day, the Armistice of Mudros ( tr, Mondros Mütarekesi) ended hostilities in the Middle Eastern theatre between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies of World War I. It was signed by th ...

. He sent messages to Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk) in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

using

Morse telegraph Electrical telegraphs were point-to-point text messaging systems, primarily used from the 1840s until the late 20th century. It was the first electrical telecommunications system and the most widely used of a number of early messaging systems ...

about the situation in Istanbul until he was stopped by the enemy soldiers, who entered the post office building. Later period's

teletypewriter A teleprinter (teletypewriter, teletype or TTY) is an electromechanical device that can be used to send and receive typed messages through various communications channels, in both point-to-point and point-to-multipoint configurations. Initia ...

s and an original telex machine is on exhibit as well.

Telephone

The second floor hosts various early telephone instruments and related equipment. There are telephones with hand-cranked

magneto A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, ...

generator or battery-powered,

rotary dial A rotary dial is a component of a telephone or a telephone switchboard that implements a signaling technology in telecommunications known as pulse dialing. It is used when initiating a telephone call to transmit the destination telephone number ...

and pushbutton dial telephones in both wall and desk versions, also produced in Turkish PTT factories,

telephone switchboard A telephone switchboard was a device used to connect circuits of telephones to establish telephone calls between users or other switchboards, throughout the 20th century. The switchboard was an essential component of a manual telephone exchange, ...

s, elektromechanical automatic telephone exchanges Also an exact replica of

Alexander Graham Bell Alexander Graham Bell (, born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born inventor, scientist and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He also co-founded the American Telephone and Te ...

's (1842–1922) original telephone from 1882 is exhibited here. It was a gift from

Alcatel-Lucent Alcatel–Lucent S.A. () was a French–American global telecommunications equipment company, headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. It was formed in 2006 by the merger of France-based Alcatel and U.S.-based Lucent, the latter being a su ...

company in 1990 on the 150th anniversary of Turkish Post's establishment. An example of

can be seen, which enabled to manually connect telephone subscribers. The installation of the first electromechanical automatic telephone exchange in Turkey was accomplished on October 23, 1931 making the

switchboard operator In the early days of telephony, companies used manual telephone switchboards, and switchboard operators connected calls by inserting a pair of phone plugs into the appropriate jacks. They were gradually phased out and replaced by automated system ...

s superfluous.

Postage stamps

The first Turkish postage stamp was issued by Post Minister

Agah Efendi Çapanzade or Çapanoğlu Agah Efendi (1832 – 1885) was an Ottoman civil servant, writer and newspaper editor who, along with his colleague İbrahim Şinasi, published '' Tercüman-ı Ahvâl'' ("Interpreter of Events"), the first private newsp ...

(1832–1885) on January 13, 1863. It was printed at the Ottoman Imperial Mint on thin cigarette paper. Postage stamp issues of

Universal Postal Union The Universal Postal Union (UPU, french: link=no, Union postale universelle), established by the Treaty of Bern of 1874, is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that coordinates postal policies among member nations, in addition to t ...

's member countries are also on display along with the stamps of the Ottoman and Republican era as well as first day covers issued after the 1950s.

Location and access

The museum is situated inside the Main Post Office building in Yeni Postane Cad. 25 in Sirkeci quarter of Fatih district in Istanbul. It is open between 08:30-17:30 on workdays only. Admission is free of charge. Museum's vsit is guided by an employee.

Gallery

File:Istanbul Postal Museum 7332.jpg, Istanbul Postal Museum Part of facade File:Istanbul Postal Museum 6811.jpg, Istanbul Postal Museum Central Hall File:Istanbul Postal Museum 4982.jpg, Istanbul Postal Museum Ceiling File:Istanbul Postal Museum 4969.jpg, Istanbul Postal Museum Architecture File:Istanbul Postal Museum 4974.jpg, Istanbul Postal Museum File:Istanbul Postal Museum 4976.jpg, Istanbul Postal Museum Postal globe File:Istanbul Postal Museum 4979.jpg, Istanbul Postal Museum Telephone File:Istanbul Postal Museum 4988.jpg, Istanbul Postal Museum Switchboard File:Istanbul Postal Museum 4986.jpg, Istanbul Postal Museum Telegraph

References

{{Museums in Istanbul

Postal Museum A postal museum is a museum dedicated to the display of objects relating to the postal service. A subcategory of postal museums are philatelic museums, which focus on philately and postage stamps. List of postal and philatelic museums Afric ...

2000 establishments in Turkey

Fatih Postal museums Philatelic museums Postal system of Turkey Telecommunications in Turkey Museums established in 2000 Ottoman architecture in Istanbul First Turkish National architecture Government buildings completed in 1909 Office buildings completed in 1909