Ottoman Bank - Ottoman Bank Museum

Ottoman Bank Museum

The Ottoman Bank headquarters on Voyvoda Street (a.k.a. Bankalar Caddesi, banks street) in Karaköy, Istanbul was built by renowned French-Turkish architect Alexander Vallaury in 1890, and used as the head office of the Ottoman Bank from its opening on 27 May 1892, until 1999. In addition to housing the Karaköy branch of Garanti Bank and its area directorates, the building was the site of the Ottoman Bank Museum and the Ottoman Bank Archives and Research Centre. The objects and documents displayed in the Ottoman Bank Museum provided insight into the late Ottoman and early Republican period, displaying the economic, social and political environment of the times through market operations, bank branches, customer files and personnel files in a combination of both chronological and thematic approaches.

Four bank vaults, located at the center of the main exhibit hall, were used to display archival series such as stocks and bonds, accounting books, customer files, deposit cards, personnel files and photographs. The largest two-storied vault hosted the banknotes and silver coins issued between 1863 and 1914 together with the story, design, registration and samples of each.

Closed for construction in 2009, the Ottoman Bank building reopens 22 November 2011 as SALT Galata, one of two buildings hosting the activities of the cultural institution SALT. SALT Galata houses the Ottoman Bank Museum, and makes the full holdings of the Ottoman Bank Archives and Research Centre's library and archives available to the public via SALT Research.