İstanbul Toy Museum

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The İstanbul Toy Museum (Turkish: İstanbul Oyuncak Müzesi) is a small museum dedicated to toys. The museum is located in the Göztepe district of Istanbul, Turkey, in the garden of the Eyüp Sultan Mosque.

The museum was founded by the Turkish poet and novelist, Sunay Akın, in 2005. The museum opened on April 23, a national holiday in Turkey, National Sovereignty and Children's Day. Currently, the museum has on display 4,000 toys and miniatures, from Turkey and abroad; many of the exhibits are antiques, some of which date back nearly 200 years. The first floor of the museum is actually the site of the Eyüp Toy Shop, a famous toy shop that had closed down in the 1950s.

Akın has indicated that the word "museum" originates etymologically from the name for the daughters of Zeus, the "muses"; on this basis, he suggests that the aim of the museum is to furnish a visitor with inspiration.[1]