Guide
The Beşiktaş Museum is a sports museum beneath Beşiktaş Park in the Vişnezade quarter of İstanbul, entered through the historic 19 Mayıs gate preserved during the building of the stadium. It stands within the BJK İnönü Stadium, opposite Dolmabahçe Palace, and can be reached easily by land and by sea.
It opened as a sports museum on 11 November 2001 with the support of members of the club's general assembly, and on 28 June 2007 it was given the status of the first private sports museum in Türkiye under the Ministry of Culture.
The stadium in which it stands opened on 27 November 1947. The first match played at the İnönü Stadium was between Beşiktaş JK and AIK, and the only goal of that match was scored by Süleyman Seba, then a player of note and later the club's honorary president, who served as club president for sixteen unbroken years. The stadium has been renovated at various times, but the Şeref Gate and the outer front looking over the Bosphorus have been kept in their original form. It has hosted not only Beşiktaş matches but many national and international fixtures, and it serves as a gathering place for celebrations on national holidays.
The museum has 1,650 square metres of display space and shows 420 historical documents and objects: the club's founding registration document, cups, shields and other awards, club badges from its beginnings to the present, historical photographs, and the original boots and shirts of well-known players. The cups Beşiktaş has won are displayed here, along with a sword given to the club by the former president of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, a keen Beşiktaş supporter. In a further 370 square metres of storage, objects belonging to branches other than football have been classified and recorded.
When to go
The museum is open every day except Mondays and match days, from 10.00 to 18.00. Current entry prices are given on the club's own site.
