Museums and Galleries
İstanbul Modern
Türkiye’s first museum of modern and contemporary art, Istanbul Modern mediates the sharing and transfer of our country’s artistic heritage on a global scale and brings together artistic productions from various geographies in Istanbul. With a vision to support the diversity of artistic expressions, it collects, preserves, exhibits, researches, and documents works of art. It works to increase access to art through interdisciplinary exhibitions, educational programs and events, and contributes to artists’ production and international collaborations.
Pera Museum
The Pera Museum is located in the historic building of the former Bristol Hotel, which was designed by architect Achille Manoussos and built in 1893.[2] It was renovated between 2003 and 2005 by architect Sinan Genim, who preserved the facade of the building and transformed the interior into a modern and fully equipped museum. Pera Museum hosts regular, international loan exhibitions, in addition to holding permanent collections of Orientalist Paintings, Anatolian Weights and Measures, and Kütahya Tiles and Ceramics.
Historical places
Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia is a place of worship and a major cultural and historical site in Istanbul. The last of three church buildings to be successively erected on the site by the Eastern Roman Empire, it was completed in 537 AD. The site was an Eastern Orthodox church from 360 to 1204, when it was converted to a Catholic church following the Fourth Crusade. It was reclaimed in 1261 and remained Eastern Orthodox until the Ottoman Conquest in 1453. It served as a mosque until 1935, when it became a museum. In 2020, the site once again became a mosque.
The Blue Mosque
The Blue Mosque, also known by its official name, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, is an Ottoman-era historical imperial mosque. It was constructed between 1609 and 1617 during the rule of Ahmed I and remains a functioning mosque today. It also attracts many tourists and is one of the most iconic and popular monuments of Ottoman architecture. The mosque was built next to the former Hippodrome and stands across from the Hagia Sophia, another popular tourist site. The Blue Mosque was included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1985 under the name of “Historic Areas of Istanbul”.
Topkapı Palace
Topkapı Palace and Harem are likely to have more colourful stories than most of the world’s museums put together. Libidinous sultans, ambitious courtiers, beautiful concubines and scheming eunuchs lived and worked here between the 15th and 19th centuries when it was the court of the Ottoman Empire. A visit to the palace’s opulent pavilions, jewel-filled Treasury and sprawling Harem gives a fascinating glimpse into their lives.
The Basilica Cistern
The Basilica Cistern or Cisterna Basilica, is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that located on the historical peninsula of Istanbul, was built in the 6th century during the reign of Byzantine emperor Justinian I. Today it is kept with little water, for public access inside the space.
Süleymaniye Mosque
The Süleymaniye is an Ottoman imperial mosque. The mosque was commissioned by Süleyman The Magnificient and designed by the imperial architect Mimar Sinan. An inscription specifies the foundation date as 1550 and the inauguration date as 1557. Behind the qibla wall of the mosque is an enclosure containing the separate octagonal mausoleums of Süleyman The Magnificient and his wife Hürrem Sultan (Roxelana).
Istanbul Archaeological Museums
Istanbul Archaeological Museums are a compound of museums which consist three major sections; The Archaeology Museum, The Museum of the Ancient Orient, The Tiled Kiosk Museum. These three separate main units are located in the same garden and house the palace collections formed during the late 19th century by museum director, master painter and archaeologist Osman Hamdi Bey. The Istanbul Archaeological Museum, which is the first regular museum appearing in the history of the Ottoman Empire and in Türkiye, has about a million artefacts from various cultures, brought from the imperial lands.
The Galata Tower
The Galata Tower, officially the Galata Tower Museum, is an old Genoese tower in the Galata part of the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul. Built as a watchtower at the highest point of the (lost) Walls of Galata, the tower is now an exhibition space and museum, and a symbol of Beyoğlu and Istanbul.
The Patriarchal Cathedral Church
The Patriarchal Cathedral Church of St. George is the principal Eastern Orthodox cathedral located in the capital of the Byzantine Empire until 1453, and of the Ottoman Empire until 1922. Since about 1600, it has been the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, whose leader is regarded as the primus inter pares (first among equals) in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and is frequently looked upon as the spiritual leader of the 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide.
Saint Stephen Church
The Bulgarian St. Stephen Church, also known as the Bulgarian Iron Church, is a Bulgarian Orthodox church Balat district in Istanbul. It is famous for being made of prefabricated cast iron elements in the Neo-Byzantine style.
The Church of St. Anthony of Padua
The Church of St. Anthony of Padua is the largest Catholic Church in Istanbul. It is located on İstiklal Avenue in the Beyoğlu district. Together with the churches of St. Mary Draperis (also on Istiklal Avenue), and of SS. Peter and Paulin Galata, it was one of three Levantine parishes in Beyoglu. Today it is run by Italian priests.
Neve Shalom
Neve Shalom, with the meaning of The Oasis of Peace, is a synagogue in the Karaköy quarter of Beyoğlu district, in Istanbul. Neve Shalom is the central and largest Sephardic synagogue in Istanbul, open to service especially on Shabbats, High Holidays, bar mitzvahs, funerals and weddings.
Miniatürk
Miniatürk is a miniature park on the northeastern shore of Golden Horn in Istanbul, Turkey. It opened on May 2, 2003. Miniatürk is one of the world’s largest miniature parks, with a 15,000 m2 model area and a total area of 60,000 square metres. It contains 135 models, in 1:25 scale, of structures from in and around Turkey, and interpretations of historic structures. Sixty of the park’s structures are from Istanbul, 63 are from Anatolia, and 13 are from the Ottoman territories that today lie outside Turkey. Also featured are historic structures like the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, and the Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus. Additional space is reserved for future models.
Dolmabahçe Palace
Dolmabahçe Palace, located in the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, served as the main administrative centre of the Ottoman Empire from 1856 to 1887 and from 1909 to 1922. The founding president of Türkiye, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, spent the last days of his life in the palace as his health deteriorated. He died at 9:05 A.M. on November 10, 1938, in a bedroom located in the former harem area of the palace. All the clocks in the palace were stopped and set to 9:05 after his death. The clocks outside his room now are set to the actual time in Turkey, but the clock in the room in which he died still points to 9:05.
Natural attractions
Kemerburgaz City Forest
Kemerburgaz City Forest, which has an area of 5,500,000 square meters in total; sports fields such as motocross, tennis, functional fitness, bicycle; Adventure Park, Zipline, Honeycomb, Ice Track Entertainment areas, such as various cafes and restaurants. It is the meeting point of culture, art, sports and entertainment, where Istanbul residents can spend 365 days of time with the activity and festival areas for children and adults. You can also enjoy the landscape in the Light Tower, which is located in the vast forest, you can visit the masterpiece of the world water architecture, a work of Mimar Sinan.
Gülhane Park
Gülhane Park is a historical urban park in the Eminönü district of Istanbul, it is adjacent to and on the grounds of the Topkapı Palace. The south entrance of the park sports one of the larger gates of the palace. It is the oldest and one of the most expansive public parks in Istanbul.
Yıldız Park
Yıldız Park is a historical, urban park in Beşiktaş district of Istanbul. It is one of the largest public parks in Istanbul. The park is located in Yıldız quarter between the palaces of Yıldız and Çırağan. Yıldız Park was once part of the imperial garden of Yıldız Palace. Extending down the slopes from the palace, this walled park was reserved only for palace dwellers during the reign of Sultan Abdulhamid II.