17 Great Mosques in Istanbul + the Food Streets Around Them

The great mosques in Istanbul cluster around the city’s oldest food streets. Süleymaniye shares its street with a white bean stew spot. The New Mosque stands beside the Spice Bazaar, which was built to pay for it. Nuruosmaniye opens onto a gate of the Grand Bazaar. So this guide does two jobs: it walks you through the 17 mosques worth your time, and it points to where to eat near each one. If you are planning the eating half of the trip first, start with our Istanbul food guide.

How to visit a mosque in Istanbul

Visiting is free and needs no reservation, but you may not be admitted during prayer times. Plan to arrive at least 30 minutes after the ezan (call to prayer), and keep Friday mornings and early afternoons free. You can check the daily prayer times for Istanbul here.

Inside, etiquette is strict. Never walk in front of a person who is praying. Photos are fine without flash, but ask permission before photographing anyone, and never photograph people while they pray.

Dress modestly. For men, that means shorts below the knee, a shirt, and no hat inside. Women should cover their head, chest, legs, and shoulders; most large mosques lend headscarves and wraps at the entrance.

You will also remove your shoes and carry them with you in a plastic bag, so expect a short line at the door of the busiest mosques.

How many mosques are there in Istanbul?

There are a total of 3,365 mosques in Istanbul. The 17 below are the ones worth crossing the city for.

The 17 great mosques in Istanbul:

1. Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Camii)

Sultanahmet is the great mosque of the classic period. Ahmed I built it next to Hagia Sophia, near Topkapı Palace, after losing a battle with the Persians, a way of reasserting his power. One of the many mosques embedded in the city skyline, this is the pinnacle of two centuries of Ottoman architecture.

To avoid being accused of arrogance for building a mosque that rivaled the first one, Sultan Ahmed paid for an extra minaret in Mecca. The entrance is built so that even the sultan had to lower his head as he came in.

The mosque and its neighborhood are on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. It was built by Mustafa Agha, a student of the chief architect of the Ottoman period, and the interior is decorated with 20,000 Iznik tiles in white, green, and blue. The blue ones gave the mosque its name.

For lunch afterward, our guide to the best restaurants in Sultanahmet covers the streets around the mosque.

2. Hagia Sophia Mosque (Ayasofya Camii)

Originally built as a Greek Patriarchal Cathedral, it was the largest cathedral of its time. Then the capital of the Byzantine Empire fell to the Ottoman conquest, Istanbul became the largest city in the Muslim Ottoman Empire, and the cathedral was converted into a mosque with four minarets to reflect the religion of the empire. It was the first of the city’s religious buildings to carry Byzantine elements into a mosque.

In 1935, during the Republic period, it was turned into a museum. Controversially, in 2020, it became a mosque again.

From here, Sirkeci sits a short walk downhill toward the water; our Sirkeci restaurant guide covers the neighborhood.

3. Chora Mosque (Kariye Camii)

This building shares a fate with Hagia Sophia. It was built in the 4th century, turned into a mosque in the 1500s, made a museum in 1945, and converted back into a mosque in 2020.

The Byzantine influence is visible because the interior was uncovered and restored. The walls still hold their mosaics, which are covered during worship. They survived because earlier generations covered them with plaster instead of removing them.

Chora stands out in Fatih near the old land walls, far enough from the center that the trip pairs best with lunch in the district; our restaurants in Fatih guide covers it.

4. Süleymaniye Mosque

Süleymaniye is classic Ottoman architecture at full strength, built by the chief architect of the era, Mimar Sinan, and a major influence on Sultanahmet. Interestingly, its red dome may have started life as blue, like Sultanahmet’s. Built in the 1550s, it was the largest mosque in Istanbul until Çamlıca opened in 2019.

The terrace has long views over the Golden Horn, and the tombs of Suleiman the Magnificent, Hurrem Sultan, and Mimar Sinan himself lie nearby.

Then there is lunch. One of the spots in our white bean stew guide sits on the street running beside the mosque complex, and a bowl of kuru fasulye with rice is the natural way to end this visit.

5. New Mosque (Yeni Camii)

A great example of the Sultanate of Women period: construction started under one lady of the court and finished under another. Because it was completed as an act of charity, the Iznik tiles inside are plainer than those in the older imperial mosques.

The Spice Bazaar next door was constructed to help pay for the mosque complex, and it is still the obvious next stop; our markets and bazaars guide covers it. From the courtyard you are also a few minutes from the Galata Bridge, where the Eminönü side is lined with fish sandwich sellers.

6. Rüstem Pasha Mosque

Built in the Ottoman era by Mimar Sinan and named for the son-in-law and Grand Vizier of Sultan Suleiman. It is worth a visit because it deviates from traditional Islamic architecture: the effort went into the inside rather than the exterior.

In place of a minimalistic interior, there is a lavish use of Iznik tiling. The mosque sits in the market streets a couple of minutes from the Spice Bazaar, so it folds neatly into the New Mosque stop above. If you visit, you may also want to see the Kılıç Ali Pasha Mosque (see below).

7. Fatih Mosque

Built during the 1460s and named after Mehmed the Conqueror, we owe its architecture to the Greek Atik Sinan. It emulates Hagia Sophia, yet it leans closer to Iranian architecture than Byzantine.

This is the oldest of the imperial mosques and was one of the biggest until Süleymaniye. It retains its original design despite being reconstructed in 1776 after an earthquake ruined it.

The mosque gave its name to the district around it; for where to eat there, see our restaurants in Fatih guide.

8. Ortaköy Mosque (Büyük Mecidiye Camii)

The architects of this splendid mosque were the Armenian Balyan family, the same family that built Dolmabahçe Palace. It was commissioned by Sultan Abdulmecid in the 1850s, and it contains his calligraphy.

The neo-baroque facade glows when lit at night, and inside, light reflects up off the water. It is small next to the imperial mosques and still one of the most photogenic buildings on the Bosphorus.

The waterfront here is one of the places where fried mussels are sold from stands along the water; our street food guide covers how to eat them. For a sit-down meal, our Beşiktaş restaurant guide covers the district Ortaköy belongs to.

9. Eyüp Sultan Mosque

This is considered one of Islam’s four sacred sites, after Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem. First built in 1458, five years after Constantinople became Istanbul, it was rebuilt by Sultan Selim in the 1700s after falling into ruin. This is held to be the burial place of Ayub al-Ansari. It is also where the traditional coronation ceremony took place: each new Ottoman ruler was girded here with the sword of Osman.

10. Arab Mosque

Originally a Roman Catholic church from 1325, built near a chapel dating to 1233. The Ottomans converted it into a mosque in the 1470s and gave it to the Arab Muslims expelled from Andalusia in 1492, which is where the name comes from.

Given that history, it is no wonder the building has an early Italian Gothic style with lancet windows and a bell tower that was converted into a minaret. This is the only mosque in Istanbul that began life as a Roman Catholic church; the others were all Byzantine Orthodox churches. Several Genoese tombstones found during reconstruction are now on display at the Archeological Museum.

The mosque stands in Galata, a few streets up from the Karaköy waterfront. Karaköy is one of the city’s börek strongholds, and our Karaköy restaurant guide covers the rest of the neighborhood.

11. Yıldız Hamidiye Mosque

This is considered the last great mosque commissioned by a member of the royal family. It is also where an assassination attempt took place: the commissioner, Abdulhamid II, was nearly murdered in front of this neo-Gothic and Ottoman-style house of worship.

It stands up the hill in Beşiktaş, so the same restaurant streets from the Ortaköy entry are close by.

12. Kılıç Ali Pasha Mosque (Kılıç Ali Paşa Camii)

When Kılıç Ali Paşa commissioned Mimar Sinan to build a mosque, Rüstem Pasha quipped that the famous sailor should build his mosque on the sea. Rather than take it as an insult, Ali Pasha had his house of worship built on an artificial island, on the sea. Today it sits back from the water because later generations developed the land around it.

Originally Italian, Ali Pasha went from slave to admiral, and Cervantes wrote him into “Don Quixote” as Oggiali. Where other beautiful mosques in Istanbul borrow ideas from Hagia Sophia, this one goes further: it is a scaled replica. The lovely Turkish bath next door has been restored and is worth your time too. The Karaköy eating streets from the Arab Mosque entry are a short walk away.

13. Beyazıt Mosque

The second large imperial mosque complex built after the conquest of Constantinople.

Beyazıt is an important cultural asset. It stands near the ruins of the Forum of Theodosius, and one of its architects also worked on the Fatih Mosque. There is now a Museum of Turkish Hammam Culture in the Turkish bath section, and the Istanbul Municipal Library occupies one of the former madrasahs (schools).

The square outside adjoins the Grand Bazaar, and our Grand Bazaar guide includes where to stop for kebab and Turkish coffee inside it.

14. Nuruosmaniye Mosque

Named the Light of the Osman for its large windows, which fill the hall with light. The calligraphy reflects the “Verse of Light” from the Qur’an, and its crescents are carved from stone rather than cast bronze. It is on the tentative list of World Heritage Sites.

One of the many mosques in Istanbul built in the Ottoman Baroque style, it stands right by the Grand Bazaar, at one of its gates, so the eating pointers from the Beyazıt entry apply here too.

15. Çamlıca Mosque

Part of the Turkish government’s MegaProject plan, this mosque was designed by two female architects and opened in 2019. It draws on the most beloved architects of the past and follows classical Ottoman architecture.

It holds an art gallery, a library, childcare spaces, and conference halls, and the women’s section is as lovely as the men’s. It is now the biggest mosque in Istanbul, with six minarets representing the six articles of Islamic faith, and from its hill you can see Süleymaniye across the water.

The mosque crowns a hill above Üsküdar. Back down by the Bosphorus, our Üsküdar restaurant guide covers the neighborhood’s tables.

16. Şakirin Mosque

Built by a private foundation in 2009 in memory of Ibrahim and Semiha Şakir, this is the most carbon-neutral mosque in Turkey and the first mosque in modern Turkey with a woman designer.

The decoration carries a touch of Seljuk art, and the large waterdrop glass chandelier is the showpiece: the symbol denotes that “Allah’s light should fall on worshipers like rain.” The women’s section is just as lovely as the men’s.

The mosque sits on the Asian side, between Üsküdar and Kadıköy. Kadıköy’s market streets are a short ride away; our Kadıköy restaurant guide covers them, and our Kadıköy street food tour walks them on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday evenings.

17. Mihrimah Sultan Mosque

Another of Sinan’s designs, this time for the daughter of Suleiman I. She has two: one for when the sun goes down (Edirnekapı) and one for when the moon rises (Üsküdar), symbolizing her name of “sun and moon.”

The dome is 37 meters high, and hundreds of windows make this one of the brightest mosques in the city. The main gate of the Edirnekapı mosque carries lovely mother-of-pearl decoration, and it has a working Turkish bath. The Edirnekapı mosque stands in Fatih, and the Üsküdar one is close to the restaurants covered under the Çamlıca entry.

Make a day of it

Several of these mosques were built as complexes, with markets, baths, and schools attached to support them. The Spice Bazaar covered the New Mosque’s costs, and Beyazıt’s bath now houses a museum. That is why eating well next to a great mosque takes so little planning: pick a mosque, check the prayer times, and let the nearest food street handle lunch.

If you would rather have a local lead the eating half, our food tours have run since 2013 in groups capped at 10 guests, and the Taste of Two Continents tour leaves daily at 09:30, 10:30, and 11:30.