Must-see attractions in Istanbul

Associated with the nearby Pera Museum, this institution incorporates a publicly accessible research library focusing on the cultural and social history…

Built by the Genoese in 1337, this fortress-like mosque was the largest of İstanbul's Latin churches. Converted to a mosque after the Conquest, it was…

The Fortress of Anatolia (Asia) was built by order of Sultan Beyazıt I in 1393–1395 and it was the place from which he launched the first Ottoman attack…

Built in 1880, this is İstanbul's largest Greek Orthodox church and has a small but loyal congregation. Attacked during the anti-minority events of 6–7…

Sometimes called the İskele (Dock) Camii, this mosque was designed by Mimar Sinan for Süleyman the Magnificent's daughter Mihrimah. Built between 1547 and…

Buried here is Mehmet V Reşâd (1844–1918), the Ottoman sultan who reigned during the First Balkan War and the entry of his empire into World War I. He…

This was kilometre zero during the Byzantine Empire: the starting point of the Via Egnatia, the great road linking Constantinople with the Adriatic coast,…

Extensively damaged in 2018 when an out-of-control Maltese-flagged tanker crashed into it, this 18th-century yalı just north of Anadolu Hisarı was built…

Functioning as a somewhat tawdry shopping centre since 1990, this Ottoman hamam has retained its form and many of its original features. One of the oldest…

Thought by some critics to be the work of Italian architect Raimondo D’Aronco, this gorgeous art nouveau mini-palace was built for Emine Hanım, mother of…

Turkey's second president, İsmet İnönü, purchased this four-storey villa in 1934, four years before he assumed the presidency after Atatürk's death. He…

Eminzade Hacı Ahmet Paşa, comptroller of the Arsenal under Ahmet III, commissioned this mosque and attached medrese in 1722. Its unusual design features a…

This yalı set in an extensive garden was constructed by the Huber Brothers, weapons brokers who represented the German Mauser and Krupp companies in the…

Built in the early 19th century by the official coffee-maker to Sultan Mahmut II. Look for the upstairs salon, which juts out over the water and is…

This Greek Orthodox church dates from 1830, although there had been a previous church on the same site from the late 17th century. Legend tells us that St…

On the hill behind Arnavutköy, the former American College for Girls (established 1871) is now part of the prestigious Robert College. Famous alumni…

One of the most prominent sights on the Üsküdar skyline, this baroque-style mosque was built in 1760–61 by order of Sultan Mustafa III. At the time of…

Commissioned by Pertevniyal Valide Sultan, mother of Abdül Aziz, and built between 1869 and 1872, this architectural hodgepodge of a building has been…

Built in the 19th century by Count Leon Ostrorog, a Polish advisor to the Ottoman court, this huge red yalı was visited by French novelist Pierre Loti in…

Once home to a daughter of Sultan Murat V, this huge yalı was built in the 1880s and extensively damaged by fire in 2003. At the time of writing it was…