Pera Museum

The Pera Museum is the most enjoyable small museum in Beyoglu, and one of the easiest to fit in, a few doors from the Pera Palace Hotel on Mesrutiyet Caddesi. Opened in 2005 by the Suna and Inan Kirac Foundation, it occupies the former Bristol Hotel, a late-nineteenth-century building from the era when Pera was the cosmopolitan European quarter of the Ottoman capital, restored inside as bright, modern galleries over several floors. Its most famous painting is The Tortoise Trainer by Osman Hamdi Bey, the painter, archaeologist and founder of the Istanbul Archaeological Museums, which shows an elderly man in a dervish robe trying to teach tortoises, a gentle satire that Turks know as well as any picture in the country. It belongs to the museum's Orientalist collection, which gathers European and Ottoman views of the empire from the seventeenth to the early twentieth centuries: portraits of ambassadors, scenes of Istanbul life and panoramas of the Bosphorus that show the city before modern times. Two other permanent collections are unusual and rewarding: Anatolian weights and measures, spanning thousands of years of trade, and Kutahya tiles and ceramics, the colorful rival to Iznik ware. Upstairs, the temporary exhibitions are often the highlight, ranging from European masters to photography and contemporary artists, and the museum also runs a film program. The Tortoise Trainer is not always on display, so check before you go if it is the reason for your visit.

Practicalities: the museum is closed on Mondays, on the first day of religious holidays and on New Year's Day. It opens from late morning on Sunday and keeps long hours on Fridays, when entry is free in the evening, the best value in Beyoglu, and Wednesdays are free for students. Children aged twelve and under enter free, and there are reduced tickets for students, teachers and older visitors. The building has step-free access and lifts throughout. The nearest metro is Sishane on the M2 line, about ten minutes on foot, and the museum is a short walk from both Istiklal Avenue and the Galata Tower.

How to see it: start with the permanent collections on the lower floors, giving most time to the Orientalist paintings, which are a visual history of how Europe imagined Istanbul and how Ottoman artists answered back. The weights and measures collection is small but fascinating, and the Kutahya ceramics, with their soft yellows and greens, make a nice contrast with the Iznik tiles you will see in the mosques. Then go up to the temporary shows. The Pera Cafe on the ground floor, decorated in art deco style, is a calm place for coffee and a pastry afterwards, and the Artshop sells good books on Istanbul and Ottoman art.

Fitting it in: the Pera Museum works as a ninety-minute stop on any day in Beyoglu. Combine it with afternoon tea or a drink at the Pera Palace Hotel next door, a walk along Istiklal Avenue and the Galata Tower, or a day of art with Istanbul Modern down on the waterfront. On a Friday, go in the early evening for free entry, then walk on to dinner in the meyhanes of Asmalimescit, just around the corner, which is about as good as a Beyoglu evening gets. Because the museum is compact and well signed, it also suits travelers who find the big state museums overwhelming: in ninety minutes you see a focused, high-quality collection, a temporary show and a lovely old building, without fighting crowds or tour groups. It is also a good choice on a rainy afternoon in Beyoglu.