Türkiye
Things to do in Istanbul
59 places59 stories2 routes
Sightlore has 59 places to explore in Istanbul, and 59 of them come with a 60-second story in 5 languages. Point your camera at a landmark to learn its name and story, and earn points and badges at the places you actually visit.
Istanbul's must-sees
The city's most important places. In the app you see how many you've visited and earn a badge when you've seen them all.
- 1
Topkapı Palace
The Topkapı Palace or the Seraglio, is a large museum and library in the east of the Fatih district of Istanbul in Turkey.
- 2
Pera Museum
Pera Museum is an art museum in the Tepebaşı quarter of the Beyoğlu (formerly called Pera) district in Istanbul, Turkey, at Meşrutiyet Avenue No. 65, adjacent to İstiklal Avenue and in close proximity to Taksim Square.
- 3
Sultan Ahmed Mosque
The Sultan Ahmed Mosque, popularly known as the Blue Mosque, is an Ottoman-era historical imperial mosque located in Istanbul, Turkey.
Read its story → - 4
Galata Tower
The Galata Tower, officially the Galata Tower Museum, is a medieval Genoese tower in the Galata part of the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, Turkey.
- 5
Grand Bazaar
The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with 61 covered streets and over 4,000 shops on a total area of 30,700 m2, attracting between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily.
- 6
Taksim Square
Taksim Square, situated in Beyoğlu in the European part of Istanbul, Turkey, is a major tourist and leisure district famed for its restaurants, shops, and hotels.
- 7
Spice Bazaar
The Spice Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey, is one of the largest bazaars in the city. Located in the Eminönü quarter of the Fatih district, it is the most famous covered shopping complex after the Grand Bazaar.
- 8
Galata Bridge
The Galata Bridge is a bridge that spans the Golden Horn in Istanbul, Turkey. From the end of the 19th century in particular, the bridge has featured in Turkish literature, theater, poetry and novels.
- 9
İstiklal Avenue
İstiklal Avenue is a 1.4 kilometre (0.87 mi) pedestrian street in the historic Beyoğlu (Pera) district in Istanbul, Turkey. It is one of the most famous avenues in the city.
- 10
Basilica Cistern
The Basilica Cistern, or Cisterna Basilica, is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath the city of Istanbul, Turkey.
Discovery routes in Istanbul
Visit the stops in any order and tap "Check in" at each one; finish the route to earn points and its own badge.
Sultanahmet and the Historic Peninsula
A walk through Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Basilica Cistern, Topkapı Palace, the Grand Bazaar, the Süleymaniye Mosque and the Spice Bazaar.
Galata to Taksim
From the Galata Bridge to the Galata Tower, the Pera Museum, St Anthony's Church and along İstiklal Avenue to Taksim Square.
Places to visit
Historic sites
Basilica Cistern
The Basilica Cistern, or Cisterna Basilica, is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath the city of Istanbul, Turkey.
Grand Bazaar
The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with 61 covered streets and over 4,000 shops on a total area of 30,700 m2, attracting between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily.
Spice Bazaar
The Spice Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey, is one of the largest bazaars in the city. Located in the Eminönü quarter of the Fatih district, it is the most famous covered shopping complex after the Grand Bazaar.
Galata Bridge
The Galata Bridge is a bridge that spans the Golden Horn in Istanbul, Turkey. From the end of the 19th century in particular, the bridge has featured in Turkish literature, theater, poetry and novels.
İstiklal Avenue
İstiklal Avenue is a 1.4 kilometre (0.87 mi) pedestrian street in the historic Beyoğlu (Pera) district in Istanbul, Turkey. It is one of the most famous avenues in the city.
Taksim Square
Taksim Square, situated in Beyoğlu in the European part of Istanbul, Turkey, is a major tourist and leisure district famed for its restaurants, shops, and hotels.
Bosphorus Bridge
The Bosphorus Bridge, known officially as the 15 July Martyrs Bridge and colloquially as the First Bridge, is the oldest and southernmost of the three suspension bridges spanning the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul, Turkey, thus connecting Europe and Asia (alongside the Fatih…
Beylerbeyi Palace
The Beylerbeyi Palace is a 19th-century Ottoman palace located in the Beylerbeyi neighborhood of Istanbul’s Üsküdar district, on the Asian shore of the Bosporus.
Cistern of Philoxenos
The Cistern of Philoxenos, or Binbirdirek Cistern, is a man-made subterranean reservoir in Istanbul, situated between the Forum of Constantine and the Hippodrome of Constantinople in the Sultanahmet district.
Dolmabahçe Palace
Dolmabahçe Palace is a 19th-century imperial palace located in Istanbul, Turkey, along the European shore of the Bosporus, which served as the main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1853 to 1887 and from 1909 to 1922.
Theodosius Cistern
The Theodosius Cistern is one of many ancient cisterns of Constantinople that lie beneath the city of Istanbul, Turkey. The modern entrance is in Piyer Loti Caddesi, Fatih.
Yedikule Fortress
Yedikule Fortress is a fortified historic structure located in the Yedikule neighbourhood of Fatih, in Istanbul, Turkey.
Museums
Topkapı Palace
The Topkapı Palace or the Seraglio, is a large museum and library in the east of the Fatih district of Istanbul in Turkey.
Pera Museum
Pera Museum is an art museum in the Tepebaşı quarter of the Beyoğlu (formerly called Pera) district in Istanbul, Turkey, at Meşrutiyet Avenue No. 65, adjacent to İstiklal Avenue and in close proximity to Taksim Square.
Anadoluhisarı
Anadoluhisarı, known historically as Güzelce Hisar ("the Beauteous Fortress") is a medieval Ottoman fortress located in Istanbul, Turkey on the Anatolian (Asian) side of the Bosporus.
Pammakaristos Church
The Pammakaristos Church, also known as the Church of Theotokos Pammakaristos, is one of the most famous Byzantine church buildings in Istanbul, Turkey, and was the last pre-Ottoman building to house the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
Istanbul Archaeology Museums
The Istanbul Archaeology Museums are a group of three archaeological museums located in the Eminönü quarter of Istanbul, Turkey, near Gülhane Park and Topkapı Palace.
Istanbul Naval Museum
The Istanbul Naval Museum is a national naval museum, located in the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, Turkey. It was established in 1897 by the Ottoman Minister of the Navy (Bahriye Nazırı) Bozcaadalı Hasan Hüsnü Pasha.
İstanbul Modern
Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, colloquially referred to as Istanbul Modern, is a contemporary art gallery located inside the Galataport complex in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, Turkey.
Chora Church
The Chora Church or Kariye Mosque was a Byzantine church, now converted to a mosque (for the second time), in the Edirnekapı neighborhood of Fatih district, Istanbul, Turkey.
The Museum of Innocence
The Museum of Innocence is a museum in a 19th-century house in Istanbul (Çukurcuma) created by novelist Orhan Pamuk as a companion to his novel The Museum of Innocence.
Rahmi M. Koç Museum
The Rahmi M. Koç Museum is a private industrial museum in Istanbul, Turkey dedicated to the history of transport, industry and communications. Rahmi M.
Rumeli Hisarı
Rumelihisarı (also known as Rumelian Fortress and Roumeli Hissar Fortress) or Boğazkesen Fortress (literally 'strait-cutter fortress') is a medieval Ottoman fortress located in Istanbul, Turkey, on a series of hills on the European banks of the Bosphorus.
Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum
The Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum is a museum in Sultanahmet Square in Fatih district of Istanbul, Turkey which first opened in 1914 and in 1983 moved into the palace of Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha, the second grand vizier of Suleiman the Magnificent.
Places of worship
Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia, officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque, is a mosque and a major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. It was formerly a church and a museum.
Sultan Ahmed Mosque
The Sultan Ahmed Mosque, popularly known as the Blue Mosque, is an Ottoman-era historical imperial mosque located in Istanbul, Turkey.
Süleymaniye Mosque
The Süleymaniye Mosque is an Ottoman imperial mosque located on the Third Hill of Istanbul, Turkey. The mosque was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent and designed by the imperial architect Mimar Sinan.
Church of St. Anthony of Padua
The Church of St. Anthony of Padua, alternatively known as Sant'Antonio di Padova Church or S. Antonio di Padova, is the largest Catholic church in Istanbul, Turkey.
Hagia Irene
Hagia Irene or Hagia Eirene, sometimes known also as Saint Irene, is a former Eastern Orthodox church located in the outer courtyard of Topkapı Palace in Istanbul.
Church of St. Mary of the Spring
The Monastery of the Mother of God at the Spring or simply Zoödochos Pege is an Eastern Orthodox sanctuary in Istanbul, Turkey.
Bayezid II Mosque
The Bayezid II Mosque is an early 16th-century Ottoman imperial mosque located in Beyazıt Square in Istanbul, Turkey, near the ruins of the Forum of Theodosius of ancient Constantinople.
Çamlıca Mosque
The Grand Çamlıca Mosque (Turkish, transliterated as Chamlija in English) is a landmark complex for Islamic worship which was completed and opened on 7 March 2019. The mosque stands astride Çamlıca Hill in the Üsküdar district of Istanbul and is visible from much of the…
Eyüp Sultan Mosque
The Eyüp Sultan Mosque is a mosque in Eyüp district of Istanbul, Turkey.
Kılıç Ali Pasha Mosque
The Kılıç Ali Pasha Mosque is a mosque at the heart of a complex designed and built between 1580 and 1587 by Mimar Sinan, who at the time was in his 90s. The mosque itself was constructed in 1578–1580.
Little Hagia Sophia
The Little Hagia Sophia mosque, formerly the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, is a former Greek Orthodox church dedicated to the Syrian Christian Saints Sergius and Bacchus in Constantinople (modern Istanbul).
Mihrimah Üsküdar Mosque
The Mihrimah Sultan Mosque is a 16th century Ottoman mosque overlooking the waterfront in the historic center of the Üsküdar district of Istanbul, Turkey.
Mihrimah Edirnekapı Mosque
The Mihrimah Sultan Mosque is a 16th-century Ottoman mosque located near the Byzantine land walls in the Edirnekapı neighborhood of Istanbul, Turkey.
Nuruosmaniye Mosque
The Nuruosmaniye Mosque is an 18th-century Ottoman mosque located in the Çemberlitaş neighbourhood of Fatih district in Istanbul, Turkey, which was inscribed in the Tentative list of World Heritage Sites in Turkey in 2016. Designed by a Greek non-Muslim architect named Simeon…
Ortaköy Mosque
Ortaköy Mosque, formally the Büyük Mecidiye Camii in Beşiktaş, Istanbul, Turkey, is a mosque situated at the waterside of the Ortaköy pier square, one of the most popular locations on the Bosphorus.
Rüstem Pasha Mosque
The Rüstem Pasha Mosque is an Ottoman mosque located in the Hasırcılar Çarşısı (Strawmat Weavers Market) in the Tahtakale neighborhood of the Fatih district of Istanbul, Turkey, near the Spice Bazaar.
Sokollu Mehmed Pasha I Mosque
Sokollu Mehmed Pasha Mosque is a 16th-century Ottoman mosque in the Kadırga neighborhood in Fatih district, Istanbul, Turkey. It was commissioned jointly by the grand vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha and his wife Ismihan Sultan.
Şakirin Mosque
Şakirin Mosque is a mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. The building is located at one of the entrances of the historic Karacaahmet Cemetery in Üsküdar.
Şehzade Mosque
The Şehzade Mosque is a 16th-century Ottoman imperial mosque located in the district of Fatih, on the third hill of Istanbul, Turkey.
New Mosque
The New Mosque and later New Valide Sultan Mosque after its partial reconstruction and completion between 1660 and 1665, is an Ottoman imperial mosque located in the Eminönü quarter of Istanbul, Turkey.
Yeni Üsküdar Mosque
The Yeni Valide Mosque at Üsküdar aka Valide-e Jadid Mosque, meaning New Mother Mosque, is an 18th-century Ottoman imperial mosque in the Üsküdar district of Istanbul, Turkey.
Yıldız Hamidi Mosque
The Yıldız Hamidiye Mosque, also called the Yıldız Mosque, is an Ottoman imperial mosque located in Yıldız neighbourhood of Beşiktaş district in Istanbul, Turkey, on the way to Yıldız Palace.
Zeyrek Mosque
Zeyrek Mosque or the Monastery of the Pantokrator, is a large mosque on the Fazilet Street in the Zeyrek district of Fatih in Istanbul, overlooking the Golden Horn.
Monuments
Galata Tower
The Galata Tower, officially the Galata Tower Museum, is a medieval Genoese tower in the Galata part of the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, Turkey.
Column of Constantine
The Column of Constantine is a monumental column commemorating the dedication of Constantinople by Roman emperor Constantine the Great on 11 May 330 AD. Completed c. 328 AD, it is the oldest Constantinian monument to survive in Istanbul.
Obelisk of Theodosius
The Obelisk of Theodosius is the Ancient Egyptian obelisk of Pharaoh Thutmose III, first erected around 1450 BC.
Maiden's Tower
The Maiden's Tower, also known as Leander's Tower since the Byzantine period, is a tower on a small islet at the southern entrance of the Bosphorus strait, 200 m (220 yd) from the coast of Üsküdar in Istanbul, Turkey.
Republic Monument
The Republic Monument is a notable monument located at Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey, to commemorate the formation of the Turkish Republic in 1923. Designed by Italian sculptor Pietro Canonica and built in two and a half years with financial support from the population,…
Serpent Column
The Serpent Column, also known as the Serpentine Column, Plataean Tripod or Delphi Tripod, is an ancient bronze column at the Hippodrome of Constantinople (known as Atmeydanı "Horse Square" in the Ottoman period) in what is now Istanbul, Turkey.
Nature
Belgrad Forest
Belgrad Forest is a mixed deciduous forest lying adjacent to Istanbul, Turkey.
Büyükada
Büyükada, meaning "Big Island" in Turkish, is the largest of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara, near Istanbul, with an area of about 2 square miles (5 square kilometres).
Gülhane Park
Gülhane Park is a historical urban park in the Fatih district of Istanbul, Turkey; it covers an area of 9.7 ha, is adjacent to and on the grounds of the Topkapı Palace.
Miniatürk
Miniatürk is a miniature park at the northeastern shore of Golden Horn in Istanbul, Turkey.
Pierre Loti Hill
Pierre Loti Hill in Eyüp, named after the French writer, has a famous café with a panoramic view of the Golden Horn; a cable car goes up.
Yıldız Park
Yıldız Park is a historical, urban park in the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, Turkey. It is one of the largest public parks in Istanbul. The park is located in Yıldız quarter between the palaces of Yıldız and Çırağan.
Explore Istanbul with your camera
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