57 Best Sights in Istanbul, Turkey

It takes a bit of imagination to appreciate the Hippodrome—once a Byzantine stadium for chariot racing with seating for 100,000—since there isn't much here anymore. Notably absent are the rows of seats that once surrounded the track and the life-size bronze sculpture of four horses that once adorned the stadium (the Venetians looted the statue during the Fourth Crusade). You can, however, see several other monuments that once decorated the central podium. The Dikilitaş (Egyptian Obelisk) probably marked the finish line. The very partial Yılanlı Sütun (Serpentine Column) was taken from the Temple of Apollo at Delphi in Greece, where it was dedicated after the Greek victory over the invading Persians in the 5th century BC. The Örme Sütun (Column of Constantine Porphyrogenitus) was once entirely covered with gilt bronze, which was stripped off by vandals during the Fourth Crusade. Closer to the tram stop is a much more recent addition: a neo-Byzantine fountain that was a gift from the German government in 1901, commemorating Kaiser Wilhelm II's visit to Istanbul three years earlier.

On the western side of Gülhane Parkı, this museum, located in the former stables of Topkapı Palace, chronicles the significant role played by medieval Muslim scientists, inventors, and physicians in advancing scientific knowledge and technology while Europe was still in the Dark Ages. Exhibits cover subjects such as astronomy, navigation, mathematics, physics, warfare, and medical expertise. Unfortunately, almost none of the items on display are actual historical artifacts, but the models and reproductions built especially for the museum are interesting nevertheless.

The main campus of Turkey's oldest institution of higher learning originally served as the Ottoman war ministry—hence the magnificent gateway arch facing Beyazıt Square and the grandiose, martial style of the main buildings, which surround a long greensward filled with giant plane trees. The 279-foot, stone Beyazıt Tower, built in 1828 by Mahmud II as a fire-watch station, is the tallest structure in the Old City and is still one of its most recognizable landmarks. At night, it is lit with LED lights in different colors indicating weather conditions. Though it can no longer be climbed, it's worth seeing up close. Because of its history as a nexus of political activism over the past several decades, the campus is not very publicly accessible. Proceed along the main drive and past the rectorate building to the garden behind it, from which there is a stunning view overlooking the Süleymaniye Camii.

The history of the Jews in Turkey is much more extensive and colorful than the size of this small museum might suggest. Nevertheless, the museum provides a fascinating glimpse into the lives of Turkish Jews, whose presence in Anatolia is traced back to as early as the 4th century BC. In 1492, the Spanish Inquisition drove Sephardic Jews from Spain and Portugal, and Sultan Beyazıt II welcomed the refugees to the Ottoman Empire. A large Jewish population thrived here for centuries, and some older Turkish Jews still speak a dialect of medieval Spanish called Ladino, or Judeo-Spanish. Today, Turkey's Jewish community numbers about 23,000. Most of them live in Istanbul, which has 18 active synagogues (three of which are on the Princes' Islands). The museum exhibits, most of them based on items donated by local Jewish families, include photographs, documents, and an ethnographic section with changing exhibits on subjects such as marriage traditions. There are also religious items brought from some very old (no longer active) synagogues in other parts of Turkey.

With recently uncovered visible evidence of its beginnings as the ancient Greek colony of Chalcedon, the relaxed, suburban neighborhood of Kadıköy is a pleasant area to explore on foot once you get away from the busy area near the ferry. The area just up from the Kadıköy dock, to the south of busy Söğütlü Çeşme Caddesi, is known as the Çarşı, or "market"—a grid of narrow, pedestrian-only lanes filled with a small open-air food market, shops, cafés, nightlife venues, and a few modern churches. Güneşlibahçe Sokak, home to an assortment of fish restaurants and some bars, is particularly lively. Several streets up and farther to the right, Kadife Sokak, dubbed Barlar Sokağı, or "bars street," is the center of Kadıköy's nightlife, lined with small, wooden rowhouses occupied by bars with a casual, laid-back vibe. A tiny, nostalgic tram runs in a clockwise direction up General Asım Gündüz, from where it loops down to the lovely waterfront neighborhood of Moda before stopping at the Kadıköy dock. If you've come this far on foot, it's nice to ride the tram back to the dock.

Just north of the second Bosphorus bridge, this village-turned-suburb has been famous for its delicious yogurt for at least 300 years, and small restaurants around the square by the quay serve this treat. Nearby, white, 19th-century, wooden villas line the waterfront. Kanlıca is the first stop on the Asian shore on the full Bosphorus cruises leaving from Eminönü.

Temporarily closed for renovation, the Chora Church, formerly a museum and now a mosque, contains dazzling mosaics and frescoes that are considered to be among the world's finest Byzantine artworks. Most of the mosaics, in 50 panels, depict scenes from the New Testament and date from the 14th century. They are in splendid condition, having been plastered over when the church became a mosque in the 16th century and not uncovered until the 1940s. "Chora" comes from the Greek word for countryside; the original church here was outside the city walls that were built by Constantine the Great, but at the beginning of the 5th century AD, Theodosius built new fortifications to expand the growing city, which brought the church inside the walls. The current edifice is believed to have been built in the 12th century. The easiest way to reach Kariye Camii is by taxi or by Edirnekapı-bound bus from Eminönu or Taksim Square. The tree-shaded café outside the mosque is a pleasant spot for lunch before you trek back into town.

Fortified since Byzantine times, this little islet off the Asian shore guarded busy shipping lanes and has a restored, lighted, 18th-century tower that is now the star of the lower Bosphorus. Leander's Tower, as it was known in antiquity, ties the island to the legend of Leander, who was said to have swum the strait each night guided by the lamp of his lover, Hero—though this myth was, in fact, set in the Dardanelles to the southwest. The Turkish name "Maiden's Tower" comes from another legend, this one associated with several offshore castles. As the story goes, a princess was placed on an island to keep her safe after a prophecy foretold her death from a snakebite. Despite this precaution, she was bitten anyway, when a snake came ashore in a basket of fruit. The current tower is still undergoing some renovations, but it usually houses an expensive (and not all that impressive) café and restaurant.

Built by Justinian as the Church of Sergius and Bacchus (patron saints of the Roman army), this church is commonly known as the "Little Aya Sofya" due to its resemblance to the great church up the hill. In fact, it was built just before Aya Sofya, in the 530s, and the architects here explored many of the same ideas of the larger church but on a smaller scale. The church was converted to a mosque around the year 1500 by Hüseyin Ağa, Beyazıt II's chief eunuch. Though the mosaics are long gone, a Greek inscription dedicated to Justinian, his wife Theodora, and the saints can still be seen running along the cornice of the colonnade. The marble and verd-antique columns, with their delicate, ornate capitals, are also quite impressive, and you can climb the stairway to the upper-level gallery for a closer look. An adjacent, shaded park has some small cafés and shops.

Nobel Prize–winning Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk's Museum of Innocence is one of the most unusual museums in Istanbul—and, perhaps, in the world. Opened in 2012 in the gentrifying Çukurcuma neighborhood in a former town house dating from the late 19th century, it's based on Pamuk's eponymous novel chronicling a decades-long story of unrequited love. On display are thousands of everyday objects, from vintage silverware and clothing to lottery tickets and matchbooks—obsessively "collected" over the years by the novel's main character—that portray daily life in Istanbul over the second half of the 20th century. The quirky, intimate museum is a must-see for anyone familiar with Pamuk's work or who is interested in Turkish social history, though some may find it esoteric. Audio tours available in English offer context.

Popular with both locals and visitors, this charming neighborhood is a lovely place to spend a summer afternoon or evening. Restaurants and cafés cluster around the small square on the European-side waterfront, which is dominated by the iconic silhouette of Ortaköy Camii, an elegant, 19th-century, Ottoman mosque designed by the same Armenian architects who built the Dolmabahçe Palace. The mosque overlooks the water, with the imposing Bosphorus Bridge (built 1973) behind it. On Sunday, the narrow, cobblestoned surrounding streets are lined with stalls selling jewelry, scarves, trinkets, and small antique items. Ortaköy is also considered the best place in Istanbul to try the street food called kumpir (basically giant baked potatoes with a choice of fillings): look for the row of about a dozen food stands—selling kumpir, waffles, and other snacks—all competing for customers' attention.

A small private museum housed in a grand 1893 building (the former Bristol Hotel), the Pera showcases diverse exhibits. It's best known, however, for its permanent collection of Orientalist paintings by both European and Ottoman artists from the 17th to 19th century and including panoramas of the city and court life; The Tortoise Trainer by Osman Hamdi Bey—a late-Ottoman painter who also founded the Istanbul Archaeological Museums—is particularly famous. One of the two smaller permanent exhibits focuses on Kütahya ceramics and tiles, the other on the history of Anatolian weights and measures from the Hittite period to the early 20th century. The upper three levels house well-conceived temporary exhibits featuring local and international artists. The museum also runs a regular film program, often featuring international and subtitled selections, in its basement screening room.

Housed on the grounds of an Ottoman-era shipyard on the shore of the Golden Horn, and in an adjacent foundry where anchors were cast for the Ottoman fleet, this museum complex was founded by one of Turkey's leading industrialists. The wonderful, eclectic collection includes aircraft, boats, a submarine, a tank, trucks, trains, a horse-drawn tram, motorcycles, antique cars, medieval telescopes, and every type of engine imaginable. Along with the many vehicles and machines, interactive displays on science and technology, as well as recreations of a sawmill and a 1920s olive oil factory, are of special appeal to children. There are several on-site food and beverage venues, including Café du Levant, a Parisian-style bistro with Art Nouveau furnishings, and the waterfront Halat Restaurant. Take a Golden Horn ferry, a bus from Şişhane, or a taxi to get here.

Built on a hill on the European side of the city overlooking the water, Rumeli Hisarı is the best preserved of all the fortresses on the Bosphorus and well worth a visit. Constructed in just four months in 1452, this eccentric-looking complex was ordered by Mehmet the Conqueror to be situated directly across from Anadolu Hisarı, at the narrowest point of the strait. This allowed the Ottomans to take control of the waterway, and Mehmet and his troops conquered Constantinople the following year.

One of Istanbul's premier private museums has world-class exhibits and a stunning location in a historic villa overlooking the water in the leafy suburb of Emirgan, on the European shore of the Bosphorus. The permanent collection includes late-19th-century Orientalist and early Republican Turkish paintings, rare examples of Ottoman calligraphy, and antique furnishings such as exquisite Sèvres vases—all from the private collection of the industrialist Sabancı family. The biggest draws, though, are the world-class temporary installations, which range from retrospectives on major artists like Picasso and leading contemporary names such as Ai Weiwei to exhibits on Anatolian archaeology and masterpieces of Islamic art. The beautiful grounds, with 150-year-old monumental trees and a variety of rare plants from around the world, are perfect for a stroll after viewing the art.

One of the northernmost settlements on the European shore of the Bosphorus, Sarıyer, centered on a small harbor and backed by a row of seafood restaurants, still feels like a fishing village. As you stroll along the Bosphorus, you'll see majestic old yalıs—some of which are beautifully kept up, and others that have been abandoned and are in a sad state. Sarıyer is one of the stops on the full Bosphorus cruises that leave from Eminönü and is a nice place for a fish lunch.

The medium-sized Şehzade Camii was built for Süleyman the Magnificent's eldest son, Prince Mehmet, who died of smallpox in 1543 at age 22. This was the great Ottoman architect Sinan's first imperial mosque, and he called it his "apprentice work." The result is quite attractive, although less spectacular than the nearby Süleymaniye. The tranquil gardens contain several imperial tombs—including that of Prince Mehmet, decorated with some of the best İznik tiles in Istanbul.

The major problem with the site of Byzantium was the lack of fresh water. So, for the city to grow, a great system of aqueducts and cisterns was built. Impeccably restored and opened to the public in 2018, the Theodosius Cistern dates from the 5th century to the reign of Theodosius II. A steep staircase leads you down into the cistern, where 32 marble columns support the Byzantine arches and domes overhead. The cistern occasionally hosts concerts and art exhibitions.

Built in 1571 for Sokollu Mehmet Pasha, a grand vizier to three successive sultans, this small mosque is not as grand as the Süleymaniye Camii (in the Bazaar Quarter), but many consider it to be one of the most beautiful of the mosques built by master Ottoman architect Sinan. Here, Sinan chose not to dazzle with size but to create a graceful, harmonious whole—from the courtyard and porticoes outside to the interior, where floral-motif stained-glass windows and gorgeous, well-preserved İznik tiles with both floral patterns and calligraphic inscriptions are set off by white stone walls. Inside, the minbar (pulpit), delicately carved in white marble and crowned with a tiled conical cap, is particularly noteworthy.

The enticing Spice Bazaar, also known as the Egyptian Bazaar, is much smaller than the Grand Bazaar but more colorful—though not as colorful, perhaps, as it was in the 17th century, when it was built to generate rental income to pay for the upkeep of the Yeni Cami (New Mosque) next door. In those earlier days, the bazaar was a vast pharmacy filled with burlap bags overflowing with herbs and spices fresh off the ships from Egypt and the Spice Islands. Today, although an increasing number of souvenir shops have opened up in the bazaar, you can still wander past numerous stalls chockablock with sacks of spices (including highly sought-after Iranian saffron); bags full of dried fruit and nuts; and delicacies including lokum (Turkish delight), caviar, and Turkish coffee and tea. The maze of narrow streets around the back of the bazaar is filled with open-air booths and shops selling similar foodstuffs—as well as everything from household items to medicinal leeches—at generally cheaper prices.

One of the most remarkable and odd structures in Istanbul—and that's saying a lot—this small neo-Gothic church looks like it's covered with elaborate stone carvings, but when you get up close, you realize that it's all cast iron. It was prefabricated in Vienna, shipped down the Danube on barges, and erected on the western shore of the Golden Horn in 1898. The then-flourishing Bulgarian Orthodox community in Istanbul was eager to have an impressive church of its own as a statement of its independence from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate (the Ottoman Sultan had given the community permission to break away in 1870, but the first church built on the site had burned down). The Istanbul municipality announced in mid-2011 that the church—one of the few such surviving prefab cast-iron churches in the world—would undergo restoration. The building is set in neatly tended gardens by the waters of the Golden Horn.

At the north end of İstiklal Caddesi, Istanbul's largest public square was once essentially a chaotic traffic circle and public transportation hub, but the Istanbul municipality undertook a project to completely pedestrianize the area and create a true open plaza. The entrance to the Taksim Square station, from which both the metro and the funicular going down to Kabataş can be reached, is in the square, so you'll probably end up here at one point or another. The open area at the top of İstiklal is dominated by the Monument of the Republic, built in 1928 and featuring Atatürk and his revolutionary cohorts. Cumhuriyet Caddesi, the main street heading north from the square, is lined with travel agencies, currency-exchange offices, and airline ticket offices. Farther up Cumhuriyet, Vali Konağı Caddesi splits off from the avenue and veers right, taking you to Nişantaşı, the city's high-fashion district.

One of the oldest inhabited areas on the Asian shore takes its name from the 7th-century BC settlement of Scutari, though nothing now remains of that ancient town. Today, Üsküdar is a conservative residential district with a handful of noteworthy Ottoman mosques. Though still rather chaotic, the waterfront area has undergone substantial renovation to accommodate the Marmaray, a rail tunnel under the Bosphorus that transports passengers from Üsküdar to Sirkeci in just four minutes. The ferry landing is dominated by Sinan's pretty, if somewhat dark, Mihrimah Sultan Camii, also known as the İskele Camii (built 1548). The large Yeni Valide Camii from 1710 and another Sinan mosque, the small, beautifully situated Şemsi Paşa Camii, are a short walk southwest along the waterfront.

A Roman city needed its aqueduct, and Constantinople, which seriously lacked drinking water, finally got one in 375 under Emperor Valens. The aqueduct, which was just one element of a well-engineered water distribution system that extended for miles, was restored in the 16th century by the Ottoman architect Sinan and continued to function well into the Ottoman era. The best and most dramatic surviving section is that near Şehzade Mosque, where Atatürk Bulvarı, a major urban thoroughfare, passes through the great arches of the aqueduct—still one of Istanbul's most significant landmarks.

A dominant feature of the Istanbul skyline, thanks to its prime spot on the Eminönü waterfront, the "new mosque" is known as much for its history as its architecture. Its location, rising out of the Golden Horn, presented formidable engineering challenges to the former apprentice to Sinan, who laid the waterlogged foundations in 1597. Due to sultans' deaths and complicated harem politics, the project wasn’t completed until 1663 by the queen mother at the time, Turhan Hatice. The entrance to the courtyard from the main square offers a marvelous view of the small domes and semidomes that appear to cascade down around the main dome, flanked by two minarets. Inside, almost every square inch of the interior is decorated—from the elaborate, multicolored İznik tiles to the intricately painted domes and gilded minbar—while numerous windows, including in the wall of the mihrab, fill the mosque with light. Note that during the restoration work that was underway at this writing, the mosque wasn't open to the public.

The wooded slopes of Yıldız Parkı once formed part of the great forest that covered the European shore of the Bosphorus from the Golden Horn to the Black Sea. In the waning years of the Ottoman Empire, the park was the private garden of the nearby Çırağan and Yıldız palaces, and the women of the harem would occasionally be allowed to visit, secluded from prying eyes as they wandered among acacias, maples, and cypresses. Today the park is still beautiful, particularly in spring when the tulips and other flowers bloom, and in fall when the leaves of the deciduous trees change color.

At the top of the park (a 15- to 20-minute walk from the entrance) is the relatively modest (by Ottoman standards) Yıldız Şale (Yıldız Chalet), where the despotic Sultan Abdülhamid II (ruled 1876–1909) spent most of his time. It also served as a guesthouse for visiting heads of state, from Kaiser Wilhelm II to Charles de Gaulle and Margaret Thatcher. Also in the park is the Malta Köşkü, a late 19th-century Ottoman pavilion that now houses a restaurant with period decor and views of the Bosphorus.