Turkish Foundation Calligraphy Museum

Turkish Foundation Calligraphy Museum, which is affiliated to the General Directorate of Foundations and located in Beyazıt District of Istanbul, II. It is inside the Beyazit Madrasa, which belongs to the Beyazit Kulliye. Because there was a large rectangular pool to the right of the entrance door, it is also known as "The Madrasa with Pool" among the people. Sultan II. It was built by Beyazıt between 1506-1508.

History of the madrasah where the museum is located: The construction of the madrasah was completed in 1506-1508. The mosque was built in 1497-1506. However, the foundation certificate in the General Directorate of Foundations bears the date of 1505. This is due to the fact that after the completion of the mosque, the kulliye was included in the scope of the foundation, and in the foundation of Beyazıt Madrasa, it was stipulated that the sheikh al-Islams should be professors. However, it is understood that due to the intensity of their work, the sheikh al-Islams appointed deputies for education and thus the institution of tutoring was born. II. Beyazıt Madrasa has an additive appearance with simple moldings on three sides of a central classroom, red and white stones at the entrance and buds on its crown. After an area with a dome that sits on checkered corners and has sets on both sides, a plain arched door with a low arch is encountered. On the door, there is a pediment made of Rumi and Hataîs made with yellow and black paint. Normal rooms have a nearly square plan. Corner rooms are larger. Corner rooms have three lower and one upper windows. The portico has 25 domes. There is a vaulted passage on the left arm. The function of this gateway is not understood. It is thought that it was probably used as a transition to a section connected here. The classroom building is 3.65 meters away from the porticoes and there is only one wall connection between them. It has nine lower and twelve upper windows. There are cupboards on the sides. There is no stove. The dome arch is round, the door arch is made of pink and white marble, and the dome drum has eight arches. In front of the entrance door, there is a wooden eaves that presses on a thin marble column and is thought to have been added later.

The fountain has an eaves with a lozenge head on six columns without a pedestal. The pool part, on the other hand, has eight arches and is a simple piece of work. There is no inscription on either the classroom or the madrasah door. The madrasa has undergone many repairs. After the closure of the madrasahs, Beyazıt Madrasa was used as a place of distribution of documents, a place of residence for the poor, a dormitory for a while, and finally the Municipality Museum and the Public Library. After the repair of Gazanfer Ağa Madrasa after 1943, the Municipal Revolution Museum was moved from Beyazıt Madrasah to Gazanfer Ağa, where only the library remained. The Writing Museum, which was first opened in the Yavuz Selim Madrasa in 1968, was opened to visitors as the Turkish Foundation Calligraphy Museum on 28 October 1984, after the Bayezit Madrasa was restored by the General Directorate of Foundations. In the museum, where there are works written on various materials (stone, glass, fabric, metal) as well as manuscripts and plates, there are a total of 3638 works, 277 of which are in the exhibition. Sacred relics are also exhibited in the classroom room. The artifacts in the museum were exhibited by separating them according to the types of writing and keeping them in the forefront of being educational. There are two sundials made by Ahmet Ziya Bey in the garden of the museum.