Attraction
1. Hagia Sophia
Justinian's sixth-century domed basilica, now the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque, with a separate visitor route through its upper galleries above the prayer hall.
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2. Topkapı Palace
The sprawling Ottoman palace on Seraglio Point, with courtyards, the Harem, imperial treasury displays and Bosphorus views, plus the Byzantine church of Hagia Irene.
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3. Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque)
Sultan Ahmed I's six-minaret imperial mosque, completed in 1617 and named for the blue İznik tiles that line its vast prayer hall.
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4. Basilica Cistern
A sixth-century underground reservoir near Hagia Sophia, with 336 marble columns, two Medusa-head column bases and atmospheric lighting after its 2022 restoration.
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5. Süleymaniye Mosque
Mimar Sinan's monumental mosque for Suleiman the Magnificent, completed in 1557 on the Third Hill, with the tombs of the sultan and Hürrem Sultan.
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6. Galata Tower
The 14th-century Genoese stone tower above Karaköy, now a museum with a 360-degree observation deck over the Golden Horn, Bosphorus and old city.
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7. Dolmabahçe Palace
The Bosphorus-front palace of the later Ottoman sultans, completed in 1853, blending European styles and holding the room where Atatürk died in 1938.
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8. Istanbul Archaeology Museums
Turkey's great archaeological collection beside Gülhane Park, founded by Osman Hamdi Bey, home to the Alexander Sarcophagus and an Egyptian–Hittite peace treaty tablet.
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9. Istanbul Modern
Turkey's first museum of modern and contemporary art, reopened in 2023 in a Renzo Piano-designed building on the Karaköy waterfront.
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10. Kariye Mosque (Chora)
The former Chora Church near the land walls, famed for early 14th-century Byzantine mosaics and frescoes, reopened as a mosque with a visitor route in 2024.
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