Places to visit in Istanbul

Istanbul attractions and practical visitor guides

Discover museums, mosques, palaces, parks, neighbourhoods and island sights. Open a place for its story, location, visit details and available audio guide.

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Attractions

Molla Zeyrek Mosque

Molla Zeyrek Mosque, originally part of the Zeyrek Monastery complex dating back to the 12th century, is a significant example of Byzantine architecture…

Sheikh Suleyman Mosque

Sheikh Suleyman Mosque, located in the historic Zeyrek neighborhood of Istanbul, is an exquisite example of Ottoman religious architecture dating back to…

Büyükada Pier

Büyükada Pier is one of the island’s best-known gateways and a landmark of early 20th-century maritime architecture in the Princes’ Islands. Its elegant…

House of Trotsky (Prince’s İslands)

The House of Trotsky on Büyükada is known as the residence where Leon Trotsky lived in exile between 1929 and 1933, making it a place of strong 20th-century…

Prinkipo Greek Orthodox Orphanage

The Prinkipo Greek Orthodox Orphanage on Büyükada is one of the largest wooden buildings in Europe and a remarkable survivor of late 19th-century…

Yücetepe Restoran & Kafe

Yücetepe Restoran & Kafe is a casual hilltop dining spot on Büyükada, valued more for its panoramic island setting than for historic monument status. The…

Dilburnu Nature Park

Dilburnu Nature Park occupies one of Büyükada’s most scenic coastal headlands and is valued for preserving the island’s natural landscape rather than for…

Yörükali Plaji (Prince’s Islands)

Yörükali Beach is one of Büyükada’s best-known seaside recreation spots, developed as a classic island beach facility rather than a historic monument. Set…

Mizzi Mansion

History: Mizzi Mansion is a historic wooden mansion reflecting late Ottoman architectural style, showcasing the lifestyle of Istanbul's affluent families in…

Maiden's Tower

Maiden's Tower is one of Istanbul's most iconic historic landmarks, rising from a small islet at the southern entrance of the Bosphorus. Its layered history…

Zeyrek Cistern

Zeyrek Sarnıcı is a Byzantine-era underground cistern in Istanbul’s historic Fatih district, reflecting the city’s sophisticated medieval water…

Underground Mosque

Underground Mosque, known in Turkish as Yeraltı Camii, is one of Istanbul’s most unusual Ottoman-era religious sites, created within the vaulted…

Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Mosque

Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Mosque was commissioned by Pertevniyal Sultan, mother of Sultan Abdülaziz, and completed in the early 1870s as one of the late…

German Fountain

The German Fountain is a neo-Byzantine monument gifted by Kaiser Wilhelm II to Sultan Abdülhamid II, commemorating the German emperor’s 1898 visit to…

Suleymaniye Mosque

Süleymaniye Mosque, commissioned by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and completed in 1557, is one of the masterpieces of architect Mimar Sinan and a…

Shemsi Ahmet Pasha Mosque

Shemsi Ahmet Pasha Mosque, built in 1580 by the great Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan for Grand Vizier Şemsi Ahmed Pasha, is one of Üsküdar’s most refined…

Moda Pier

Moda Pier is a small but distinctive waterfront landmark on Istanbul’s Asian shore, originally built in the early 20th century as part of the district’s…

The Blue Mosque

The Blue Mosque, officially known as Sultan Ahmed Mosque, was built between 1609 and 1617 for Sultan Ahmed I and remains one of Istanbul’s most important…

Kamondo Stairs

The Kamondo Stairs are a late-19th-century urban landmark commissioned by the influential Kamondo family, prominent Ottoman bankers of Jewish heritage.…

Yeni Mosque

The Yeni Mosque, also known as the New Mosque, is one of Istanbul’s great imperial mosques and a defining landmark of Eminönü Square. Begun in 1597 and…

Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque

Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque is one of Istanbul’s most important monuments, reflecting nearly fifteen centuries of imperial, religious, and artistic history.…

Istiklal Avenue (Taksim)

İstiklal Caddesi is Istanbul’s most famous pedestrian avenue, shaped by the city’s late Ottoman and early Republican history and long associated with…

Topkapi Palace Museum

Topkapi Palace Museum was the administrative heart of the Ottoman Empire for nearly four centuries, serving as the residence of sultans and the center of…

Dolmabahçe Palace

Dolmabahçe Palace, completed in 1856, served as the main administrative center of the late Ottoman Empire and reflects the empire’s turn toward European…

Ihlamur Pavilion

Ihlamur Kasrı is a refined 19th-century Ottoman imperial pavilion complex built during the reign of Sultan Abdülmecid I and designed in the elegant taste of…

Beykoz Mecidiye Pavilion

Beykoz Mecidiye Pavilion is a 19th-century Ottoman imperial pavilion commissioned during the reign of Sultan Abdülmecid and later associated with the…

Yıldız Palace

Yıldız Palace is one of the last great imperial complexes of the Ottoman Empire, developed mainly in the 19th century as the residence and administrative…

Yıldız Hamidiye Mosque

Yıldız Hamidiye Mosque was commissioned by Sultan Abdülhamid II and completed in the late 19th century as part of the Yıldız Palace area, reflecting the…

Yıldız Park

Yıldız Park is one of Istanbul’s largest historic urban parks, formed from the former imperial gardens of the Yıldız Palace complex in the late Ottoman…

Bankalar Street

Bankalar Caddesi, historically known as Voyvoda Caddesi, was the financial heart of late Ottoman Istanbul and the center of Galata’s banking district. In…

Kalenderhane Mosque

Kalenderhane Mosque is one of Istanbul’s rare Byzantine churches later converted into a mosque, making it especially important for understanding the city’s…

Aqueduct of Valens

The Aqueduct of Valens is one of Istanbul’s most important surviving Roman engineering monuments, commissioned in the 4th century during the reign of…

Kılıç Ali Pasha Mosque

Kılıç Ali Pasha Mosque is a 16th-century Ottoman imperial mosque commissioned by admiral Kılıç Ali Pasha and designed by Mimar Sinan, the chief architect of…

Binbirdirek Cistern

Binbirdirek Cistern is one of Istanbul’s major Byzantine underground reservoirs, built in the 4th century and expanded under Constantine-era and later…

Basilica Cistern

The Basilica Cistern is one of Istanbul’s most atmospheric Byzantine monuments, built in the 6th century during the reign of Emperor Justinian I to store…

Küçüksu Pavilion

Küçüksu Pavilion is a refined 19th-century Ottoman imperial pavilion built during the reign of Sultan Abdülmecid and designed by architect Nigoğayos Balyan.…

Aynalıkavak Pavilion

Aynalıkavak Pavilion is one of the last surviving imperial waterfront pavilions of the Ottoman era, originally linked to the larger Tersane Palace complex…

Maslak Pavilions

Maslak Kasırları is a late Ottoman imperial pavilion complex associated with Sultan Abdülhamid II and the court life of the 19th century. Built as a hunting…

Nakkaştepe National Garden

Nakkaştepe National Garden is a large landscaped urban park on Istanbul’s Asian side, created as a modern public green space with panoramic views over the…

Rumeli Fortress

Rumeli Hisarı is a monumental 15th-century Ottoman fortress built in 1452 by Sultan Mehmed II on the European shore of the Bosphorus, just before the…

Galataport Istanbul

Galataport İstanbul is a large-scale waterfront redevelopment on the Karaköy shore, transforming the historic Salıpazarı port into a contemporary mixed-use…

Istanbul Museum of Modern Art

Istanbul Museum of Modern Art is Türkiye’s leading institution for modern and contemporary art, founded in 2004 and reopened in its striking new waterfront…

Panorama 1453 History Museum

Panorama 1453 History Museum commemorates the 1453 conquest of Constantinople through a purpose-built panoramic exhibition that combines painting, sound,…

Cistern of Theodosius

The Cistern of Theodosius is a remarkable Byzantine underground reservoir dating to the late 4th century, built during the reign of Emperor Theodosius II to…

Nusretiye Mosque

Nusretiye Mosque is a 19th-century imperial Ottoman mosque commissioned by Sultan Mahmud II and completed in 1826, reflecting the reform era of the empire.…

Zorlu Center - Shopping Mall

Zorlu Center is one of Istanbul’s most prominent contemporary mixed-use complexes, combining luxury retail, dining, offices, residences, and performance…

Marmara Forum

Marmara Forum is one of Istanbul’s major modern shopping centers, opened in 2011 and designed as a large-scale contemporary retail and leisure complex. Its…

Viaport Asia Outlet Shopping

Viaport Asia Outlet Shopping is one of Istanbul’s largest open-air outlet malls, designed as a lifestyle retail complex rather than a conventional enclosed…

Venezia Mega Outlet

Venezia Mega Outlet is a large themed shopping and leisure complex in Gaziosmanpaşa, designed with canals, bridges, and façades inspired by Venice. Its…

İstanbul Cevahir Shopping Mall

İstanbul Cevahir Shopping Mall, opened in 2005, is one of Istanbul’s largest modern retail and leisure complexes and a landmark of the Şişli business…

Istinye Park

Istinye Park is one of Istanbul’s best-known upscale shopping centers, opened in 2007 and designed as a contemporary retail complex that combines enclosed…

Şehzade Mosque

Şehzade Mosque is one of the earliest great imperial works of architect Mimar Sinan, built in the 1540s by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in memory of his…

Miniatürk

Miniatürk, opened in 2003 on the Golden Horn shore, is one of the world's largest miniature parks and presents a compact journey through the architectural…

Rahmi M. Koç Museum

Rahmi M. Koç Museum is one of Istanbul’s leading industrial museums, founded in 1994 in restored Ottoman-era dockyard and factory buildings along the Golden…

Pera Museum

Pera Museum is a leading private art museum in Istanbul, housed in the former Bristol Hotel, a refined late-19th-century building redesigned in a restrained…

Istanbul Naval Museum

Istanbul Naval Museum is one of Türkiye’s most important maritime museums, preserving the naval heritage of the Ottoman Empire and the Republic. Its modern…

Gülhane Park

Gülhane Park is one of Istanbul’s oldest and most historically layered public parks, occupying the outer gardens of Topkapı Palace and reflecting the…

Polonezköy Nature Park

Polonezköy Nature Park is a large green escape on Istanbul’s Asian side, known for its forested landscape, picnic grounds, and village atmosphere shaped by…

Kilyos Beach

Kilyos Sahil is a long Black Sea shoreline on Istanbul’s northern edge, known more for its natural coastal character than for monumental architecture. The…

Uzunkum Beach

Uzunkum Plajı is one of Şile’s well-known Black Sea beaches, valued more for its long sandy shoreline and open coastal scenery than for monumental…

Galata Tower

Galata Tower is one of Istanbul’s most recognizable medieval landmarks, originally built by the Genoese in 1348 as part of the defensive walls of Galata.…

Büyük Çamlıca Mosque

Büyük Çamlıca Camii, opened in 2019 on Istanbul’s Çamlıca Hill, is one of Türkiye’s largest mosques and a major contemporary religious landmark. Its design…

Grand Bazaar

The Grand Bazaar is one of the world’s oldest and largest covered markets, founded in the 15th century soon after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople.…

Eyüp Sultan Mosque

Eyüp Sultan Mosque is one of Istanbul’s most revered religious monuments, built near the tomb of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad,…

Pierre Loti

Pierre Loti is a famous hilltop viewpoint in Eyüpsultan, named after the French writer Julien Viaud, who used the pen name Pierre Loti and was known to…

Sultanahmet Square (Hippodrome)

Sultanahmet Square is the historic heart of old Constantinople and Ottoman Istanbul, occupying the former Hippodrome of Constantinople where chariot races,…

Fatih Mosque

Fatih Mosque is one of Istanbul’s most important imperial mosques, built in the 15th century by Sultan Mehmed II on the site of the former Church of the…

Egyptian Bazaar

The Egyptian Bazaar, also known as the Spice Bazaar, is one of Istanbul’s most historic covered markets and a key part of the New Mosque complex completed…

Fethi Pasha Grove

Fethi Paşa Korusu is a historic hillside grove on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus, associated with Ottoman statesman Fethi Ahmet Paşa and shaped as a…

Arap Mosque

Arap Camii is one of Istanbul’s most unusual historic mosques, believed to occupy a former medieval church built by Genoese communities in Galata and later…

Kariye Mosque

Kariye Mosque, originally the Byzantine Church of the Holy Saviour in Chora, is one of Istanbul’s most important late Byzantine monuments. Built in its…

Lunapark (Prince’s İslands)

Lunapark on Büyükada is not an amusement park but one of the island’s best-known transport and orientation points, marking the higher part of the route…

Turkish & Islamic Arts Museum

Housed in the 16th-century Ibrahim Pasha Palace facing Sultanahmet Square, the Turkish & Islamic Arts Museum is one of Istanbul’s most important collections…

Mall of Istanbul

Mall of Istanbul is one of Istanbul’s largest contemporary retail and lifestyle complexes, representing the city’s expansion toward large-scale mixed-use…

Istanbul Archaeological Museums

The Istanbul Archaeological Museums, opened in the late 19th century, are among Türkiye’s earliest purpose-built museum institutions and mark a major step…

Church of Saint Anthony of Padua

The Church of Saint Anthony of Padua is the largest Catholic church in Istanbul and one of the most recognizable religious landmarks on İstiklal Avenue.…

Church of Santa Maria Draperis

Santa Maria Draperis Church is one of the oldest Roman Catholic churches in Istanbul, closely associated with the city’s Levantine and Franciscan…

Baltalimanı Japanese Garden

Baltalimanı Japanese Garden is a small themed garden on the Bosphorus side of Sarıyer, created as a symbol of friendship and designed with elements inspired…

Emirgan Park

Emirgan Park is one of Istanbul’s largest and most elegant historic urban parks, spread across the Bosphorus hillside in Sarıyer. Once part of an…

Cemile Sultan Grove

Cemile Sultan Korusu is a historic grove on the Asian side of Istanbul, associated with the late Ottoman period and named after Princess Cemile Sultan. Set…

Otağtepe Fatih Grove

Otağtepe Fatih Grove is a scenic hilltop park on the Asian side of Istanbul, known for its sweeping panorama over the Bosphorus, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge,…

Palace Collections Museum

Saray Koleksiyonları Müzesi presents selected objects from the Ottoman palace collections in a modern museum setting near Dolmabahçe Palace. The institution…

Balat Colorful Houses

Balat’s colorful houses are among the most photographed streetscapes in Istanbul, reflecting the layered history of this old Golden Horn neighborhood. The…

Emaar Square Mall

Emaar Square Mall is one of Istanbul’s large contemporary retail and lifestyle centers, developed as part of the wider Emaar Square complex on the Asian…

Camlıca Hill

Çamlıca Hill is one of Istanbul’s most famous panoramic viewpoints, rising on the Asian side with a long history as a leisure spot since the Ottoman period.…

Hagia Triada Greek Orthodox Church

Hagia Triada Greek Orthodox Church is one of Istanbul’s most prominent 19th-century Greek Orthodox landmarks, built in 1880 near Taksim Square on the site…

Kuzguncuk

Kuzguncuk is one of Istanbul’s most atmospheric Bosphorus neighborhoods, known for its layered multicultural past where Muslim, Jewish, Armenian, and Greek…

Kuzguncuk Pier

Kuzguncuk Pier is a small historic ferry landing on the Bosphorus shore in one of Üsküdar’s most characterful neighborhoods, reflecting the maritime…

Üsküdar Ferry Terminal

Üsküdar Ferry Terminal is one of Istanbul’s long-standing Bosphorus ferry hubs and an essential link between the Asian and European sides of the city. The…

Kadıköy Ferry Terminal

Kadıköy İskele is one of Istanbul’s best-known ferry terminals and a long-standing gateway between the Asian and European sides of the city. The present…

Eminönü Ferry Pier

Eminönü İskele is one of Istanbul’s historic waterfront transport hubs, positioned where the Golden Horn meets the Bosphorus and the old commercial quarter…

Bebek Pier

Bebek Pier is a small but well-known Bosphorus landing point in one of Istanbul’s most elegant waterfront neighborhoods. The present structure reflects the…

Karaköy Pier

Karaköy Pier is one of Istanbul’s long-serving waterfront transport points, linking the historic Golden Horn and Bosphorus shores with the city’s maritime…

Ortaköy Pier

Ortaköy Pier is one of the Bosphorus’s best-known small ferry piers, closely tied to the growth of Ortaköy as a lively waterfront quarter in the late…

Beşiktaş Pier

Beşiktaş İskele is one of the Bosphorus shore’s best-known historic ferry terminals, reflecting the maritime identity that shaped Beşiktaş as a transport…

Beylerbeyi Palace

Beylerbeyi Palace is a refined 19th-century Ottoman imperial residence built between 1863 and 1865 for Sultan Abdülaziz on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus.…

Büyük Mecidiye Mosque (Ortakoy)

Büyük Mecidiye Mosque, widely known as Ortaköy Mosque, was commissioned by Sultan Abdülmecid and completed in 1856 during the late Ottoman reform era.…

Vefa Mosque (Hagios Theodoros)

Vefa Mosque is a Byzantine-era monument later converted into an Ottoman mosque, making it one of Istanbul’s layered religious landmarks. The building is…

Rumeli

Rumeli is a long-established passage-side venue on İstiklal Avenue in Beyoğlu, part of the dense urban fabric that shaped modern Istanbul’s social and…

Elmasburnu National Park

Elmasburnu National Park is a protected coastal recreation area on Istanbul’s Black Sea edge in Riva, valued more for its natural setting than for…

Yedikule Fortress

Yedikule Hisarı, also known as the Fortress of Seven Towers, is one of Istanbul’s most important late Byzantine and early Ottoman defensive monuments. Built…

Değirmen Burnu Nature Park

Değirmen Burnu Nature Park is a scenic coastal green space on Heybeliada, one of the Princes’ Islands, valued more for its landscape and leisure setting…

Alman Beach

Alman Plajı is a small seaside beach club on Heybeliada, one of the Princes’ Islands, known more for its relaxed island atmosphere than for monumental…

Bağdat Avenue

Bağdat Caddesi is one of Istanbul’s most famous urban boulevards, stretching along the Asian side and reflecting the city’s modern, cosmopolitan character…

Kaftan Street

Kaftan Sokağı is a small residential street in Üsküdar, valued more for its neighborhood character than for a single monument. It reflects the quiet…

İBB Maçka Democracy Park

İBB Maçka Democracy Park is a large urban green space on the slopes between Harbiye and Nişantaşı, created as part of Istanbul’s modern republican-era…

Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church

Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church is a historic Orthodox sanctuary in Balat, a district long associated with Istanbul’s Greek and Jewish communities. The…

Flower Passage

Çiçek Pasajı is a late 19th-century arcade on İstiklal Avenue, built in 1876 on the site of the former Naum Theatre and designed in an elegant European…

Minoa Pera

Minoa Pera is a contemporary independent bookstore in Beyoğlu, known for combining curated bookshelves with a stylish café setting inside a restored urban…

Beyazgül Street

Beyazgül Sokak is a small residential street in Arnavutköy, one of the Bosphorus neighborhoods known for its late Ottoman urban fabric and elegant wooden…

Feriköy Antique Market

Feriköy Antika Pazarı is one of Istanbul’s best-known weekend antique markets, bringing together vintage dealers, collectors, and curious visitors in a…

Hagia Sophia

Built in 532–537 under Emperor Justinian by the architects Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus, the church became a mosque after the conquest of…

Blue Mosque

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque was built in 1609–1616 by the architect Sedefkâr Mehmed Ağa, a pupil of Sinan, for the young Sultan Ahmed I. A cascade of domes and…

Topkapı Palace

Mehmed II began the palace soon after the conquest of 1453, and it remained the centre of Ottoman government until Sultan Abdülmecid moved to Dolmabahçe in…

Spice Bazaar

The L-shaped market was completed in the 1660s as part of the New Mosque complex commissioned by Turhan Hatice Sultan, and its shop rents helped fund the…

İstiklal Avenue

In Ottoman times this was the Grande Rue de Péra, the main street of the European quarter with its embassies, churches, theatres and department stores; it…