Sultanahmet
Right in the heart of İstanbul’s historic center, this sacred Byzantine building remains an important symbol of power.
Must-see attractions in Istanbul
Sultanahmet
Topkapı is the subject of more colourful stories than most of the world's museums put together. Libidinous sultans, ambitious courtiers, beautiful…
Istanbul
İstanbul has more than its fair share of Byzantine monuments, but few are as drop-dead gorgeous as this mosaic- and fresco-laden church. Nestled in the…
Sultanahmet
The city's foremost archaeological museum is housed in three buildings close to Topkapı Palace. There are many highlights, but the sarcophagi from the…
Istanbul
The Süleymaniye crowns one of İstanbul's seven hills and dominates the Golden Horn, providing a landmark for the entire city. Though it's not the largest…
Kadıköy
An aromatic, colourful and alluring showcase of the best fresh produce in the city, the Kadıköy Pazarı is foodie central for locals and is becoming an…
Sultanahmet
This subterranean structure was commissioned by Emperor Justinian and built in 532. The largest surviving Byzantine cistern in İstanbul, it was…
Sultanahmet
İstanbul's most photogenic building was the grand project of Sultan Ahmet I (r 1603–17), whose tomb is located on the north side of the site facing…
Beyoğlu
The painstaking attention to detail in this fascinating museum/piece of conceptual art will certainly provide every amateur psychologist with a theory or…
Museum of Turkish & Islamic Arts
Sultanahmet
This Ottoman palace was built in 1524 for İbrahim Paşa, childhood friend, brother-in-law and grand vizier of Süleyman the Magnificent. It now houses a…
Istanbul
This splendid museum is dedicated to the history of transport, industry and communications in Turkey. Founded by the head of the Koç industrial group, one…
Istanbul
The colourful and chaotic Grand Bazaar is the heart of İstanbul's Old City and has been so for centuries. Starting as a small vaulted bedesten (warehouse)…
Istanbul
Vividly coloured spices are displayed alongside jewel-like lokum (Turkish delight) at this Ottoman-era marketplace, providing eye candy for the thousands…
Beyoğlu
This lavishly funded and innovative museum has an extensive collection of Turkish art and also stages a constantly changing and uniformly excellent…
Beyoğlu
There's plenty to see at this impressive museum, but its major draw is undoubtedly the 2nd-floor exhibition of paintings featuring Turkish Orientalist…
Beyoğlu
Once called the Grand Rue de Pera but renamed İstiklal (Independence) in the early years of the Republic, Beyoğlu's premier boulevard is a perfect…
Sultanahmet
The Byzantine emperors loved nothing more than an afternoon at the chariot races, and this rectangular arena alongside Sultanahmet Park was their venue of…
Istanbul
To experience İstanbul at its most magical, walk across the Galata Bridge at sunset. At this time, the historic Galata Tower is surrounded by shrieking…
Istanbul
This is one of the two great İstanbul mosque complexes designed by Mimar Sinan. Though not as spectacular as the Süleymaniye, it was designed to a similar…
Sultanahmet
Part of the Aya Sofya complex but entered via Babıhümayun Caddesi, these tombs are the final resting places of five 16th- and 17th-century sultans –…
Patriarchal Church of St George
Istanbul
Dating from 1836, this church is part of the Greek Patriarchate compound. Inside the church are artefacts including Byzantine mosaics, religious relics…
Istanbul
This important complex marks the supposed burial place of Ebu Eyüp el-Ensari, a friend of the Prophet who fell in battle outside the walls of…
Istanbul
With serene lakes and nearly 2000 different kinds of trees and plants from all over the world, this 730-acre oasis of green in the north of the city is a…
Istanbul
Only in İstanbul would a 400-year-old mosque be called 'new'. Constructed between 1597 and 1665 and closed at the time of research as it undergoes a long…
Istanbul
In Byzantine times, this square was called the Forum of Theodosius. Today it's home to street vendors, students from the adjoining İstanbul University and…
Beyoğlu
The semahane (whirling-dervish hall) at the centre of this tekke (dervish lodge) was erected in 1491 and renovated in 1608 and 2009. It's part of a…
Nişantaşi, Bomonti & Harbiye
This sprawling museum located in a former 19th-century military school 1km north of Taksim has a huge collection of militaria dating from the 13th century…
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
Istanbul
The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople is the symbolic headquarters of the Greek Orthodox Church, and one of the most significant sites in the…
Beyoğlu
The cylindrical Galata Tower stands sentry over the approach to 'new' İstanbul. Constructed in 1348, it was the tallest structure in the city for…
Kadıköy
One of the pioneering musicians who mixed rock sounds with traditional Turkish folk music to establish the Anatolian rock genre in the 1960s and 1970s,…
Istanbul
Rising majestically over the traffic on busy Atatürk Bulvarı, this limestone aqueduct is one of the city's most distinctive landmarks. Commissioned by…
Sultanahmet
Housed in an imaret (soup kitchen) added to the Aya Sofya complex in the 18th century, this museum is entered through a spectacular baroque gate and gives…
Kadıköy
This tiny chapel on a leafy side street in Moda was built in 1878 as an Anglican church serving a British community who settled in the area following the…
Istanbul
Nestled in the middle of the busy Tahtakale shopping district, this diminutive mosque is a gem. Dating from 1560, it was designed by Sinan for Rüstem Paşa…
Istanbul
One of İstanbul’s historic landmarks, this fortress has a history as substantial as its massive but now sadly dilapidated structure. It dates from the…
İstanbul Fransız Kültür Merkezi
Beyoğlu
Set in a distinctive yellow building just off Taksim Square, the French Cultural Centre in İstanbul hosts regular art exhibitions (with a particular focus…
Beyoğlu
Located opposite the grandiose entrance to the 1868 Galatasaray Lycée, one of the city's most prestigious educational institutions, this much-loved…
Koç University Research Centre for Anatolian Civilizations
Beyoğlu
With a wealth of scholarly knowledge and archival photos to draw on, the exhibitions regularly staged on the ground floor of this university-affiliated…
Nişantaşi, Bomonti & Harbiye
On a sunny weekend afternoon, you’ll find this slender green oasis in central İstanbul full of picnicking families, canoodling couples and slackline…
Church & Monastery of St George
Princes’ Islands
There's not a lot to see at this Greek Orthodox monastery complex located on a 203m-high hill known as Yücetepe, but the panoramic views from the…
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