The museum was opened in 1953. It is located behind the Blue Mosque and shows mosaics, columns and other architectural elements that were once part of the Great Palace of the Byzantine Empire. The beautiful mosaics displayed form scenes with human figures that depict daily life in Byzantium, hunting incidents, landscapes and animal figures.
These mosaics date, according to experts, from between 450 and 550. Must of them have a white background fish scales- like, and they represent naturalistic scenes, without any religious overtones, like a griffin eating a lizard, the fight between an elephant and a lion, a man milking a goat or a child feeding a donkey. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 9:30 to 16:30. The ticket price is 8 TL.