The museum was opened in 2001 by the Quincentennial Foundation. The foundation was founded in 1992 to commemorate 500th year of the arrival of the Sephardic Jews in the Ottoman state.

It is located in a 19th century synagogue which was used until 1985. The museum exhibits sacred objects from various synagogues and the history of the Ottoman Jews.

Following the Spanish Inquisitions of 1492, most of the Sephardic Jews moved to Ottoman land by the invitation of Sultan Beyazıd II. The museum has three floors and thus three different sections:

1- History and culture of Ottoman Jews (entrance floor)

2- Komondo Family (upper floor)

3- Ethnography (basement floor)