The Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts is housed in the grandest of all the non-royal Ottoman Empire palaces. The Palace belonged to Ibrahim Pasha, the Grand Vizier of Suleiman the Magnificent. Since then, it has served as the home of the High Court, as a Janissary barracks, and a prison. Abandoned for many years, it has been splendidly restored; the building itself impressive, but its contents are extraordinary: manuscripts, miniatures, woodwork, stonework, ceramics, glassware and metalwork, and wonderful examples of antique Turkish carpets. The Istanbul Archeology Museums is a group of three Archaeology museums located near Topkapi Palace and housing over one million objects that represent almost all of the eras and civilizations in world history. The Archaeology Museums architect was the Levantine Alexandre Vallaury. The facade of the building was inspired by the famous Alexander Sarcophagus and the Sarcophagus of the Mourning Women both from the excavations of Sidon by Hamdi Bey and Demostene Bey Baltazzi and which are the highlights housed inside the Museum. The Museum is one of the prominent structures built in the Neo classical style in Istanbul.