Historic & Cultural in Istanbul: Top Places

The Topkapı Palace or the Seraglio, is a large museum and library in the east of the Fatih district of Istanbul in Turkey. From the 1460s to the completion of Dolmabahçe Palace in 1853, it served as the administrative center of the Ottoman Empire, and was the main residence of its sultans. Construction, ordered by the Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror, began in 1459, six years after the conquest of Constantinople.

Historic & Cultural

Historic & Cultural

Historic & Cultural

The Serpent Column, also known as the Serpentine Column, Plataean Tripod or Delphi Tripod, is an ancient bronze column at the Hippodrome of Constantinople in what is now Istanbul, Turkey. It is part of an ancient Greek sacrificial tripod, originally in Delphi and relocated to Constantinople by Constantine the Great in 324. It was built to commemorate the Greeks who fought and defeated the Persian Empire at the Battle of Plataea.

Historic & Cultural

The Hatice Turhan Sultan Tomb, located in Fatih, Istanbul, was built in 1663 by architect Mustafa Ağa as part of the New Mosque Complex. The tomb houses the graves of Hatice Turhan Valide Sultan, five Ottoman sultans including Mehmed IV, Mustafa II, Ahmed III, Mahmud I, and Osman III, as well as princes and sultanas, totaling 44 individuals. The tomb is 177 meters from the Eminönü tram stop, 574 meters from the Grand Bazaar, and 130 meters from the Spice Bazaar.

Historic & Cultural

Silivrikapı is a historic area located within the Theodosian Walls in Istanbul's Fatih district. It takes its name from the historic Silivri Gate, also known as the Selymbria Gate of Constantinople. This gate played a significant role in 1261 when the Byzantine army recaptured the city from the Latins. Notable structures nearby include the Hadım İbrahim Pasha Mosque, designed by Mimar Sinan and completed in 1551, and the Saliha Sultan Fountain, built in 1725.

Historic & Cultural

The Milion was a marker from which all distances across the Roman Empire were measured. Erected by Septimius Severus in the 3rd century AD in the city of Byzantium, it became the zero-mile marker for the empire upon the re-founding of the city as Constantinople in 330 AD. Thereafter, it would serve as the starting-place for the measurement of distances for all the roads leading to the cities of the Eastern Roman Empire.

Garipçe Castle is an Ottoman-era castle on the ridges of Garipçe in Istanbul. It was built during the reign of Sultan Mustafa III in the years 1757-1774.

The tomb of Hayreddin Barbarossa is the final resting place of Ottoman admiral of the fleet Hayreddin Barbarossa whose naval victories secured Ottoman dominance over the Mediterranean during the mid 16th century. The mausoleum was designed and built by Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan in 1541 and still retains its original features. It is located near the ferry port of the district of Beşiktaş on the European side of Istanbul where his fleet used to assemble.

Barbaros Monument is a monument made of bronze casting, located in Barbaros Park in Beşiktaş, erected in 1944, in memory of the famous Ottoman admiral Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha. It is one of the largest among the Republic era square monuments. Maritime Day and Naval Forces Day celebrations take place every year in front of the monument, which has become the symbol of Beşiktaş.

Historic & Cultural

The Aviation Martyrs' Monument, located in Fatih district of Istanbul, Turkey, is a memorial dedicated to the first soldiers of the Ottoman Airforce to be killed in flight accidents. In Turkey, one use of the term "martyr" is as an honorific for people killed in action during war. The monument was commissioned right after the consecutive crash of two monoplanes in Palestine, killing three of the four military aviators who were on an expedition flight from Istanbul to Alexandria in early 1914.

Historic & Cultural

Historic & Cultural

Historic & Cultural

The Kadıköy bull statue is a statue of a bull installed in Kadıköy, Istanbul, Turkey. The bull has become a mascot for the neighborhood. It was ordered by Abdülaziz in 1864 and created by French artist Rouillard in Paris. The statue has been in its current location on Altıyol Square since 1987.

Historic & Cultural

Atik Ali Paşa Madrasa is a historic building located on Çemberlitaş Divanyolu in Fatih, Istanbul. It is one of the surviving structures of a complex built in 1497 by Hadım Atik Ali Pasha, a grand vizier during the reign of Bayezid II. The madrasa, along with a mosque and a primary school, was part of a larger complex, which is now divided by the tramway. The madrasa features a rectangular courtyard surrounded by classrooms, a small mosque, and 16 student rooms. Today, it is used by the Birlik Foundation. It is 98 meters from the Çemberlitaş tram stop.

Koca Sinan Pasha Complex is a 16th-century complex in Beyazıt, Istanbul.

Abdul Hamid II Monument or Haydarpaşa Breakwater, is a monument located on the breakwater opposite Istanbul Haydarpaşa railway station. The monument was built by the architect Alexander Vallaury in honor of the 25th anniversary of Abdul Hamid II's accession to the throne. The monument, made entirely of marble, was completed in 1902 and inaugurated on the 21st of September, Abdul Hamid II's birthday.