Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque)
Sultan Ahmed I’s imperial mosque, famous for its six minarets and blue İznik-tiled interior.
Completed in 1617 opposite Hagia Sophia, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque is one of the last great works of classical Ottoman architecture. Its cascading domes and six minarets dominate the Sultanahmet skyline, and more than twenty thousand hand-painted İznik tiles give it its popular name.
The mosque reopened in 2023 after a major restoration. Entry is free; visitors use a dedicated tourist entrance and a roped-off area of the prayer hall. The adjoining Hippodrome, with its Egyptian obelisk and Serpent Column, makes a natural continuation on foot.
- →Closed to visitors during the five daily prayers — allow for a longer closure at Friday midday.
- →Headscarves and wraps are provided at the entrance, but groups move faster if guests arrive dressed modestly.
- →Shoes are carried in bags; ask guests to wear easy slip-on footwear.
Tours visiting this place
Hotels nearby
An intimate luxury hotel in a restored early twentieth-century building, set around a garden courtyard in the heart of Sultanahmet.
A well-run four-star hotel in Sultanahmet, known for its rooftop restaurant overlooking the historic peninsula.
A landmark luxury hotel on the Karaköy waterfront, created from three historic buildings and a new wing within Galataport.
Places nearby
- Basilica Cistern0.3 km
A sixth-century underground cistern of 336 marble columns, with the famous Medusa heads.
- Hagia Sophia0.5 km
The sixth-century Byzantine cathedral, later an Ottoman mosque — the defining monument of Istanbul.
- Topkapı Palace0.9 km
The palace of the Ottoman sultans for almost four centuries, overlooking the meeting point of the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn.
- Grand Bazaar (Kapalıçarşı)0.9 km
One of the oldest and largest covered markets in the world — a labyrinth of vaulted streets, hans and thousands of shops.
- Spice Bazaar (Mısır Çarşısı)1.3 km
The seventeenth-century Egyptian Bazaar at Eminönü — spices, Turkish delight, nuts, dried fruit and teas.
- Süleymaniye Mosque1.6 km
Mimar Sinan’s masterpiece for Süleyman the Magnificent, crowning the third hill above the Golden Horn.