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Ahrida Synagogue
Balat once housed a large portion of the city's Jewish population. Sephardic Jews, driven from Spain by the judges of the Inquisition, found refuge in the Ottoman Empire in the late 15th and early 16th centuries and settled in this quarter of the city. Many of their descendants still live here and speak the native Spanish dialect of Ladino.
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Arap Camii
This mosque is the only surviving place of worship built by the Genoese; it was the largest of the Latin churches in the city. Dating from 1337, it was converted to a mosque by Spanish Moors in the 16th century. It has a simple plan - long hall, tall square belfry-cum-minaret - with ornate flourishes such as the galleries added in the 20th century.
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Atik Valide Camii
This is one of the grandest of Sinan's İstanbul mosques, second only to his Süleymaniye. Experts rate it as one of the most important Ottoman mosque complexes in the country. It was built in 1583 for Valide Sultan Nurbanu, wife of Selim II and mother of Murat III. Nurbanu had been captured by Turks on the Aegean island of Paros when she was 12 years old, ending up as a slave in Topkapı.
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Azapkapi Sokollu Mehmet Paşa Camii
This pretty mosque, designed by Sinan and built in 1577, is unusual in that it and the minaret are raised on a platform. Like Sinan's Rüstem Paşa Camii over the Golden Horn (also on a raised platform), it was commissioned by Sokollu Mehmet Paşa, a grand vizier of Süleyman the Magnificent. Today it's overshadowed by the approach to Atatürk Bridge and seems to almost shrink back from the traffic mayhem of Tersane Caddesi.
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Beyazit Camii
Dating from 1501 to 1506, this was the second imperial mosque to be built in the city after Mehmet the Conqueror's Fatih Camii, and was the prototype for other imperial mosques. In effect, it is the link between Aya Sofya, which obviously inspired its design, and the great mosques such as Süleymaniye, which are realisations of Aya Sofya's design fully adapted to Muslim worship.
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Blue Mosque
With this mosque, Sultan Ahmet I (r 1603-17) set out to build a monument that would rival and even surpass the nearby Aya Sofya in grandeur and beauty. So enthusiastic was the sultan about his grand project that he is said to have worked with the labourers and craftsmen on site, pushing them along and rewarding extra effort.
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Chora Church
Chora literally means 'country', and when it was built Chora Church, or the Church of the Holy Saviour Outside the Walls, was indeed outside the city walls built by Constantine the Great. However, within a century it was engulfed by Byzantine urban sprawl and enclosed within a new set of walls built by Emperor Theodosius II.
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Christ Church
Designed by CE Street (who also did London's Law Courts), the cornerstone of this Anglican church was laid in 1858 by Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, known as 'The Great Elchi' ( elçi, meaning ambassador) because of his paramount influence in mid-19th-century Ottoman affairs. The church, dedicated in 1868 as the Crimean Memorial Church, is the largest of the city's Protestant churches. It was restored and renamed in the mid 1990s.
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Church Of Ss Peter & Paul
Tucked away in one of the steep streets below Galata Tower you'll find the small grey-and-white doorway to the courtyard of the Church of SS Peter and Paul. A Dominican church originally stood on this site, but the building you see today dates from the mid-19th century. It's the work of the Fossati brothers who also designed the Dutch and Russian consulate buildings (both in Beyoğlu).
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Church Of St Mary Of The Mongols
History buffs will find a visit here more satisfying than those specifically interested in architecture, as this squat red-brick church is quite unprepossessing from the outside and an unfortunate exercise in ecclesiastical decorative overkill inside. Historically, though, it is extremely significant, being the only Byzantine church in İstanbul which has not, at some stage or another, been in Ottoman hands.
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Church Of St Stephen Of The Bulgars
Back in 1871, when this Gothic Revival cast-iron church was constructed from pieces shipped down the Danube and across the Black Sea from Vienna on 100 barges, the idea was novel to say the least. It's hard to say which is the more unusual: the building and its interior fittings - all made completely of cast iron - or the history of its congregation.
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Çinili Camii
This little mosque is unprepossessing from the outside, but - boy oh boy - wait till you see the interior! It is brilliant with İznik faïence, the bequest of Mahpeyker Kösem (1640), wife of Sultan Ahmet I (r 1603-17) and mother of sultans Murat IV (r 1623-40) and İbrahim (r 1640-8).
It's a 10-minute walk here from the Atik Valide Camii.
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Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarchate
The Ecumenical patriarchis a ceremonial head of the Orthodox Church, though most of the churches in Greece, Cyprus, Russia and other countries have their own patriarchs or archbishops who are independent of İstanbul. Nevertheless, the symbolic importance of the patriarchate, here in the city that saw the great era of Byzantine and Orthodox influence, is considerable. The patriarchate has been located in this district since 1601.
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Eyüp Sultan Camii & Tomb Off
This mosque complex occupies what is reputedly the burial place of Ayoub al-Ansari, a friend of the Prophet's and a revered member of Islam's early leadership. Eyüp fell in battle outside the walls of Constantinople while carrying the banner of Islam during the Arab assault and siege of the city from 674 to 678. He was buried outside the walls and, ironically, his tomb later came to be venerated by the Byzantine inhabitants of the city.
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Fatih Camii Off
The Fatih was the first great imperial mosque built in İstanbul following the Conquest. For its location Mehmet the Conqueror chose the hilltop site of the ruined Church of the Apostles, burial place of Constantine and other Byzantine emperors. The mosque complex, finished in 1470, was enormous; set in extensive grounds, it included in its külliye 15 charitable establishments such as religious schools, a hospice for travellers and a caravanserai.
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Fethiye Camii
The Fethiye Camii was built in the 12th century as the Church of the Theotokos Pammakaristos or Church of the Joyous Mother of God. It is usually closed so if you want to enter you'll need to organise a time with the caretaker at Aya Sofya (212-522 0989). The original monastery church was added to several over the centuries before being converted to a mosque in 1573 to commemorate Sultan Murat III's victories in Georgia and Azerbaijan.
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Küçük Aya Sofya Camii
Justinian and Theodora built this little church sometime between 527 and 536 (just before Justinian built Aya Sofya) and you can still see their monogram worked into some of the frilly white capitals. It was named after the two patron saints of Christians in the Roman army. The building, which has recently been restored, is one of the most beautiful in the city.
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Neve Shalom Synagogue
During the 19th century, Galata had a large Sephardic Jewish population and a number of synagogues. Most of this community has now moved to other residential areas in the city, but the synagogues remain. Tragically, this building has become a target for anti-Jewish extremists and it has suffered two attacks in recent decades - a brutal massacre by Arab gunmen during the summer of 1986 and a 2003 car bomb attack.
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Nuruosmaniye Camii
Facing Nuruosmaniye Kapısı, one of several doorways into the Grand Bazaar, this mosque was built in Ottoman baroque style between 1748 and 1755. Construction was started by Mahmut I and finished by his successor Osman III. The baroque building has very strong echoes of Aya Sofya, specifically the broad, lofty dome, colonnaded mezzanine galleries, windows topped with Roman arches and the broad band of calligraphy around the interior.
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Rüstem Paşa Camii
Plonked in the middle of the busy Tahtakale district, this little-visited mosque is a gem. Built in 1560 by Sinan for Rüstem Paşa, son-in-law and grand vizier of Süleyman the Magnificent, it is a showpiece of the best Ottoman architecture and tilework, albeit on a small scale. It is thought to have been the prototype for Sinan's greatest work, the Selimiye in Edirne.
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Şehzade Mehmet Camii
Süleyman the Magnificent built this mosque between 1543 and 1548 as a memorial to his son, Mehmet, who died of smallpox in 1543 at the age of 22. It was the first important mosque to be designed by Mimar Sinan. Although not one of his best works, it has two beautiful minarets and attractive exterior decoration.
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Şemsi Paşa Camii
This charming mosque right on the waterfront was designed by Sinan and built in 1580 for grand vizier Şemsi Paşa. It is modest in size and decoration - reflecting the fact that its benefactor only occupied the position of grand vizier for a couple of months under Süleyman the Magnificent. Its medrese has been stylishly converted into a library.
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Sokollu Mehmet Paşa Camii
Sinan designed this mosque in 1571, at the height of his architectural career. Though named after the grand vizier of the time, it was really sponsored by his wife Esmahan, daughter of Sultan Selim II. Besides its architectural harmony, typical of Sinan's greatest works, the mosque is unusual because the medrese is not a separate building but actually part of the mosque structure, built around the forecourt.
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Süleymaniye Camii
The Süleymaniye crowns one of the seven hills, and dominates the Golden Horn, providing a landmark for the entire city. It was commissioned by the greatest, richest and most powerful of Ottoman sultans, Süleyman I (r 1520-66), known as 'The Magnificent', and was the fourth imperial mosque built in İstanbul, following the Fatih, Beyazıt and Selim I complexes.
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Sultan Selim Camii
By all accounts the sultan to whom this mosque was dedicated (Süleyman the Magnificent's father, Selim I, known as 'the Grim') was a nasty piece of work. He is famous for having his father poisoned and for killing two of his brothers, six of his nephews and three of his own sons. Odd, then, that his mosque is one of the most loved in the city.
