Hagia Sophia
Istanbul, Turkey
Since Hagia Sophia became a mosque again in 2020, the way you visit it has changed.
78 tickets & tours
Country
Best temples in Turkey
10 temples in Turkey, ranked by why it makes the list from the catalogue data. Each page tells you what to see, which ticket or tour to book and when to go.
| # | Temple | Country | Why it makes the list |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hagia Sophia | Turkey | Justinian's great church of 537, a mosque again since 2020, where the floating dome, Byzantine mosaics and Ottoman roundels tell fifteen centuries of history. |
| 2 | Suleymaniye Mosque | Turkey | Sinan's masterpiece for Suleiman the Magnificent, a calm and light-filled prayer hall on the Third Hill, with the founders' tombs and Golden Horn views. |
| 3 | Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque) | Turkey | The Blue Mosque's six minarets and cascading domes face Hagia Sophia across a garden, and its interior glows with more than twenty thousand Iznik tiles. |
| 4 | Rüstem Pasha Mosque | Turkey | A small Sinan mosque raised above the shops of the spice market quarter, its walls covered top to bottom with the finest Iznik tiles in Istanbul. |
| 5 | Green Mosque (Yesil Camii), Bursa | Turkey | The high point of early Ottoman architecture in the first Ottoman capital, named for its turquoise and green tiles, with Mehmed I's Green Tomb beside it. |
| 6 | Grand Mosque of Bursa (Ulu Cami) | Turkey | Bayezid I's mosque of twenty domes, with a fountain beneath the central dome and giant calligraphy panels on its piers, the great early Ottoman mosque. |
| 7 | Mihrimah Sultan Mosque, Üsküdar | Turkey | Sinan's mosque for Suleiman's daughter beside the Üsküdar ferry landing, with a deep porch and harbour views, an easy first stop on the Asian shore. |
| 8 | Eyup Sultan Mosque | Turkey | Istanbul's holiest Muslim shrine, the tomb of the Prophet's standard-bearer near the Golden Horn, always busy with pilgrims and families under the plane trees. |
| 9 | Isa Bey Mosque | Turkey | A fourteenth-century mosque in Selçuk modelled on the Great Mosque of Damascus, built with reused ancient columns below the hill of St John near Ephesus. |
| 10 | Temple of Artemis | Turkey | A single reassembled column marks one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, but the site in Selçuk is free and pairs naturally with Ephesus. |
Suleymaniye Mosque
Istanbul, Turkey
Entry to the Suleymaniye Mosque costs nothing and needs no ticket, so anything sold online for it is really a…
5 tickets & tours
Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque)
Istanbul, Turkey
Entry to the Sultan Ahmed Mosque is free and there is no ticket to buy, so anything sold online is really a guide, a…
34 tickets & tours
Rüstem Pasha Mosque
Istanbul, Turkey
There is no ticket for the Rüstem Pasha Mosque. It is a working mosque, entry is free, and no ticket for it alone is…
No online ticket
Green Mosque (Yesil Camii), Bursa
Bursa, Turkey
No ticket for the Green Mosque is sold online, and none is needed.
No online ticket
Grand Mosque of Bursa (Ulu Cami)
Bursa, Turkey
No ticket for the Grand Mosque of Bursa is sold online, and none is needed: entry is free, there are no timed slots,…
No online ticket
Mihrimah Sultan Mosque, Üsküdar
Istanbul, Turkey
There is nothing to book for the Mihrimah Sultan Mosque in Üsküdar, and no ticket for it alone is sold online.
No online ticket
Eyup Sultan Mosque
Istanbul, Turkey
Entry to the Eyup Sultan Mosque and to the tomb of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari is free, and no ticket is needed or sold.
1 ticket or tour
Isa Bey Mosque
Selçuk, Turkey
There is no ticket for the Isa Bey Mosque. It is a working mosque, entry is free, and nothing is sold online for it on…
No online ticket
Temple of Artemis
Selçuk, Turkey
The site of the Temple of Artemis, on the edge of Selcuk, is an open field that you can visit freely, so there is no…
9 tickets & tours