The city’s museums are among the highlights of İstanbul’s autumn art and culture scene. The İstanbul Archaeological Museums, set in the garden of Topkapı Palace and where archaeology comes alive, house one of the world’s richest collections. The İstanbul Painting and Sculpture Museum, Türkiye’s first plastic arts museum, presents an illuminating perspective on Turkish art history from the late 19th century to the late twentieth century, the last periods of the Ottoman Empire. The newly opened Hagia Sophia History Museum, a few steps from the iconic Hagia Sophia, takes visitors on an unforgettable journey through the approximately seventeen-hundred-year history of this important building, offering visitors a one-of-a-kind immersive exploration of the Hagia Sophia’s storied history. Türkiye’s first modern and contemporary art museum, the İstanbul Modern, now housed in a dramatic Renzo Piano-designed structure overlooking the Bosphorus, hosts acclaimed temporary exhibitions and the most innovative examples of modern Turkish art.