Turkish Pharmacy Museum in Istanbul, Turkey

The Turkish History of Pharmacy Specialization Museum is housed within Istanbul University’s Faculty of Pharmacy in Fatih. Founded by Prof. Dr. Turhan Baytop in 1960, it was the first museum in Turkey devoted specifically to the history of pharmacy. Its holdings document pharmacies, pharmaceutical education, medicine production, professional life, and the development of the pharmaceutical industry in Turkey.

From Turhan Baytop’s Collection to a Specialization Museum

Baytop created the museum around his personal collection and historical materials provided by colleagues. Pharmacist Remzi Kocaer later helped expand the holdings. The collection was placed in a room on the ground floor of the Faculty of Pharmacy’s A Block and opened under the name Türk Eczacılık Tarihi Müzesi on May 7, 1968.

As the number of objects grew, the original room became inadequate. In 1984 the museum moved to a larger space on the first basement level of C Block and reopened there on July 15.

The August 17, 1999 earthquake damaged the Faculty of Pharmacy building. During later structural work, museum materials were placed in storage and protected while the building was reinforced. Work on C Block began in 2005 and was completed in 2010. Restored museum material and new display cases were later installed in two halls beside the dean’s office in the faculty’s historic building.

The collection received specialization-museum status in 2017 and was formally opened in that capacity at the Faculty of Pharmacy on February 27, 2018. The museum functions not only as a display collection but also as a resource for research into the history of pharmacy and pharmaceutical education.

Historic Pharmacies and Pharmaceutical Equipment

Part of the collection traces the physical appearance and working practices of older pharmacies. Materials transferred from the Enderun Pharmacy at Topkapı Palace include pharmacy furnishings and porcelain medicine jars. Some of these objects entered the collection after a transfer arranged by Topkapı Palace Museum director Hayrullah Örs in 1962.

The museum also preserves cabinets associated with the Pastör Pharmacy, opened in 1860, and the İstikamet Pharmacy, opened in 1890. Laboratory tools and other equipment show how pharmacists prepared medicines in the period when many preparations were produced directly inside pharmacies rather than supplied solely as finished manufactured products.

Commercial medicines form another part of the holdings. An Istanbul University account published in 2019 described about 1,500 pharmaceutical preparations in the museum, including domestic and foreign products from the Ottoman and Republican periods. The preparations were organized by manufacturer, providing material for studying changes in pharmaceutical products and industry.

Records of Pharmacy Education in Turkey

The museum documents the institutional history of pharmacy education, which began in Istanbul in 1839. Surviving material includes school and departmental signs, graduation photographs, diplomas, diploma registers, administrative records, and other documents from different stages of pharmaceutical education.

These records allow the collection to preserve more than equipment and medicine containers. They also document how pharmacists were trained, how qualifications were recorded, and how pharmacy developed as an academic profession.

Pharmacopoeias, Formularies, and Books

The museum’s book holdings include pharmacopoeias, formularies, pharmacy textbooks, and medical works used by pharmacists during the Ottoman and Republican periods. The collection contains works in Ottoman Turkish, Turkish, Greek, French, German, English, and Italian.

Istanbul University records identify the oldest book in this collection as an edition printed in 1734. The library material complements the physical pharmacy objects by preserving the written sources pharmacists used for formulas, medicines, teaching, and professional practice.

Research and Visiting the Museum

The institution is a specialization museum within a university faculty rather than a conventional walk-in tourist museum. Istanbul University has described the collection as a research resource and has previously arranged visits by appointment. Because regular public opening hours and current admission arrangements are not published on the university’s current museum information pages, visitors should contact the Istanbul University Faculty of Pharmacy before making a dedicated trip.

The museum is located in the Faculty of Pharmacy in Istanbul University’s Beyazıt area, in the historic faculty building associated with Keçecizade Fuat Paşa Mansion. Its surviving pharmacy interiors, medicines, educational records, books, and professional equipment provide documentary evidence for the development of pharmacy practice and education in Turkey.