1565 — today
A toy shop and workshop.
The Traditional Eyüp Toymaker carries on the wooden toy tradition that emerged five hundred years ago in Eyüp Sultan, one of Istanbul's best-loved districts: a toy shop and workshop that makes Traditional Eyüp Toys, introduces them to new generations, and works to keep the tradition alive.
Working away like one of the hundred toy shops that entered Evliya Çelebi's world-famous Seyahatnâme in 1635, we strive to keep alive the Eyüp Toys that are among the treasured values of our country, our people and our history.
In an age when the world speaks of wooden toys, healthy toys and recycling, we follow in the footsteps of the Eyüp toy masters who — as if they knew, five hundred years ago — made every toy from healthy materials, recyclable, and without harm to nature.
1565Hasan Efendi of Eyüp Sultan, setting out to make a toy horse cart for his grandchildren, designs more than 30 toys and teaches many masters — Eyüp toy-making is bornFirst master
1635Evliya Çelebi records 100 toy shops and 105 masters in Eyüp in his SeyahatnâmeSeyahatnâme
1955The last master Halit Şengöz — 31 years in the shop he took over from his father Kadri Şengöz — gives up against plastic and tin toys; a 455-year tradition endsLast master
2005An EU-funded joint project of the History Foundation, Eyüp Municipality and İşkur trains the women of Eyüp; new Eyüp Toy Masters are raisedRebirth
2017Şennur Ülker, one of the masters trained in 2005, founds the Traditional Eyüp ToymakerFounded
2019Şennur Ülker is granted the Ministry of Culture's Wooden Toy Master titleTitle
2020Eyüp toy-making is registered as Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Culture and TourismHeritage
