Süleymaniye Mosque
Mimar Sinan’s masterpiece for Süleyman the Magnificent, crowning the third hill above the Golden Horn.
Completed in 1557, the Süleymaniye complex combined a mosque with medreses, a hospital, a soup kitchen and baths. Its serene interior, carried on four great piers, is considered the high point of classical Ottoman design.
The tombs of Süleyman and his wife Hürrem Sultan lie in the garden behind the mosque, and the terrace offers one of the finest views over the Golden Horn and Galata. The surrounding streets are known for fasulye (bean stew) restaurants.
- →Active mosque: modest dress and closures at prayer times apply.
- →Usually far less crowded than Sultanahmet — ideal for groups who want space and photographs.
- →Pair with the Spice Bazaar, ten minutes downhill on foot.
Tours visiting this place
Hotels nearby
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.
An intimate luxury hotel in a restored early twentieth-century building, set around a garden courtyard in the heart of Sultanahmet.
Places nearby
- Spice Bazaar (Mısır Çarşısı)0.6 km
The seventeenth-century Egyptian Bazaar at Eminönü — spices, Turkish delight, nuts, dried fruit and teas.
- Grand Bazaar (Kapalıçarşı)0.7 km
One of the oldest and largest covered markets in the world — a labyrinth of vaulted streets, hans and thousands of shops.
- Galata Tower1.4 km
The fourteenth-century Genoese tower above Karaköy, with a 360° balcony over the Golden Horn and Bosphorus.
- Basilica Cistern1.4 km
A sixth-century underground cistern of 336 marble columns, with the famous Medusa heads.
- Hagia Sophia1.6 km
The sixth-century Byzantine cathedral, later an Ottoman mosque — the defining monument of Istanbul.
- Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque)1.6 km
Sultan Ahmed I’s imperial mosque, famous for its six minarets and blue İznik-tiled interior.