Best Places to Visit in Turkey

Turkey is a nation straddling eastern Europe and western Asia with cultural connections to ancient Greek, Persian, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires. Cosmopolitan Istanbul, on the Bosphorus Strait, is home to the iconic Hagia Sophia, with its soaring dome and Christian mosaics, the massive 17th-century Blue Mosque and the circa-1460 Topkapı Palace, former home of sultans. Ankara is Turkey’s modern capital.

What you need to know

Capital: Ankara

Dialing Code: +90

ISO Code: TUR

Currency: Turkish Lira

Official Languages: Turkish

Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia is a former Christian patriarchal basilica, later an imperial mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey.

Info:

Address: Sultanahmet Mh., Ayasofya Meydanı, Fatih/İstanbul, Turkey
Established: February 1, 1935 
Height: 55 m 
Architectural style: Byzantine architecture 
Patron: Justinian I 
Architects: Anthemius of Tralles, Isidore of Miletus, Trdat the Architect
Phone: +90 212 522 1750

Topkapı Palace

The Topkapı Palace or the Seraglio is a large palace in Istanbul, Turkey, that was one of the major residences of the Ottoman sultans for almost 400 years of their 624-year reign.

Info:

Address: Istanbul, Turkey 
Opened: 1478 
Phone: +90 212 512 0480 
Function: Palace 
Architects: Mehmed the Conqueror, Mimar Sinan, Acem Ali, Davud Ağa, Sarkis Balyan 
Architectural styles: Ottoman architecture, Baroque architecture

Sultan Ahmed Mosque

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque or Sultan Ahmet Mosque is a historic mosque in Istanbul. The mosque is popularly known as the Blue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior. It was built from 1609 to 1616, during the rule of Ahmed I.

Info:

Address: At Meydanı No:7, 34122 Fatih/İstanbul, Turkey 
Opened: 1616 
Height: 43 m  
Capacity: 10,000 
Architect: Sedefkar Mehmed Agha 
Architectural styles: Ottoman architecture, Islamic architecture Function: Mosque, Monument
Phone: +90 212 458 4468

Basilica Cistern

The Basilica Cistern, is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath the city of Istanbul, Turkey.

Info:

Address: Alemdar Mh., Yerebatan Cd. 1/3, 34410 Fatih/İstanbul, Turkey 
Phone: +90 212 522 1259 
Architectural styles: Byzantine architecture, Ancient Greek architecture

Süleymaniye Mosque

The Süleymaniye Mosque is an Ottoman imperial mosque located on the Third Hill of Istanbul, Turkey. It is the largest mosque in the city, and one of the best-known sights of Istanbul.

Info:

Address: Süleymaniye, Prof. Sıddık Sami Onar Cd. No:1, 34116 Fatih/İstanbul, Turkey 
Opened: 1558 
Architectural style: Ottoman architecture 
Patron: Suleiman the Magnificent 
Groundbreaking: 1550 
Architect: Mimar Sinan
Phone: Not Available

Chora Church

The Church of the Holy Saviour in Chora is a former Byzantine church, later Ottoman mosque, and current museum in the Edirnekapı neighborhood of Istanbul. The neighborhood is situated in the western part of the municipality of the Fatih district.

Info:

Address: Ayvansaray Mh., Kariye Cami Sk. No:26, Fatih/İstanbul, Turkey Opened: 1958 
Phone: +90 212 631 9241 
Architectural style: Byzantine architecture

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 3,000 shops which attract between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily.

Info:

Address: Beyazıt Mh., İstanbul, Turkey 
Phone: +90 212 519 1248 
Completion date: 1461 
Beginning date: 1455

Galata Tower

The Galata Tower — called Christea Turris by the Genoese — is a medieval stone tower in the Galata/Karaköy quarter of Istanbul, Turkey, just to the north of the Golden Horn's junction with the Bosphorus.

Info:

Address: Bereketzade Mh., Galata Kulesi, Beyoğlu/İstanbul, Turkey 
Height: 63 m 
Opened: 1348 
Phone: +90 212 244 7736 
Architectural style: Romanesque architecture 
Materials: Rock 
Architect: Köksal Anadol

Pamukkale

Pamukkale is a town in western Turkey known for the mineral-rich thermal waters flowing down white travertine terraces on a nearby hillside. It neighbors Hierapolis, an ancient Roman spa city founded around 190 B.C. Ruins there include a well-preserved theater and a necropolis with sarcophagi that stretch for 2km. The Antique Pool is famous for its submerged Roman columns, the result of an earthquake.

Info:

Address: Pamukkale, Kale, 20190 Pamukkale/Denizli Merkez/Denizli, Turkey
Phone: Not Available

Golden Horn

The Golden Horn, also known by its modern Turkish name as Haliç, is a major urban waterway and the primary inlet of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey.

Info:

Address: Golden Horn, Turkey

Bridges: Galata Bridge, Haliç Bridge, Golden Horn Metro Bridge, Atatürk Bridge

Phone: +90 212 5141544

Did You Know?

• Turkey isn't called Turkey. It's actually been called The Republic of Turkey since 1923.
• In 1503, Leonardo Da Vinci submitted plans for a bridge across the Bosphorus - it was never built.
• Turkey is responsible for the world's 80% of the world's hazelnut exports.
• Istanbul's Grand Bazaar has 64 streets, 4,00 shops and 25,000 workers.
• The first ever Christian church to be built by man was in Antioch, Turkey.
• Santa Claus (St. Nicholas) was born in Patara, Turkey
• Most Turks didn't have surnames until 1934.
• Turkey was the birthplace of historical figures such as Aesop, Homer, and St. Paul the Apostle.
• More journalists are imprisoned in Turkey than any other country.

References

• Wikipedia
• Somewhere Magazine
• Wikimedia
• Rough Guides