Built as a cathedral by the Byzantine emperor Justinian in 537, later a mosque, then a museum, and again a mosque since 2020, with a vast dome that seemed to float, and golden Byzantine mosaics alongside Islamic calligraphy.
Foreign visitors pay an entry fee and visit the upper gallery; it's closed to tourists at prayer times. Dress modestly; women cover their hair. The Blue Mosque and the Basilica Cistern are next door.
A vast underground Byzantine water reservoir built in the 6th century, with 336 marble columns rising from the water, dimly lit, and two Medusa heads…
Built between 1609 and 1616, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque is famous for its six minarets, its cascading domes and the more than 20,000 blue İznik tiles th…
The palace of the Ottoman sultans for nearly 400 years, on a point above the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn, with courtyards, pavilions tiled in Iznik…
One of the oldest and largest covered markets in the world, begun in 1461.
The strait dividing Europe from Asia, lined with palaces, Ottoman wooden mansions (yalı) and fortresses.
The restaurant where İskender kebab was invented, run by the same family since 1867.
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