Sultanahmet: the back story

About Sultanahmet: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Istanbul Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Sultanahmet occupies the first of Istanbul’s seven hills, the site of ancient Byzantium. Here stood the Great Palace of the Byzantine emperors and the Hippodrome; here the Ottomans built Topkapı and the Blue Mosque. The whole historic peninsula is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Two empires on one hill

Few places hold so much history in so small a space. In a ten-minute walk you pass the Basilica Cistern of the 6th century, Hagia Sophia of 537, the obelisks of the Hippodrome, the Blue Mosque of 1616 and the gate of Topkapı Palace. Under the streets and hotels lie the ruins of the Great Palace, whose mosaics you can see in the Mosaic Museum.

The square

The garden between Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque is the place to begin: sit by the fountain and look from one great dome to the other. The long Hippodrome square, with its obelisks, runs south-west from here.

The Historic Areas of Istanbul were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.

When to go

Sultanahmet is busiest from late morning to late afternoon, and in spring and summer. Arrive at opening time for Topkapı and the Cistern, see Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque outside prayer times, and come back at dusk, when the crowds thin and the minarets are lit.

Beyond the big sights

Walk down to Little Hagia Sophia and the old wooden houses of Cankurtaran and Kadırga, towards the sea walls, or up to the Grand Bazaar along Divan Yolu, past the Column of Constantine. The neighbourhood has good hotels and restaurants, but for nightlife, cross to Beyoğlu.

Our advice: spend at least two full days here, start every morning early, alternate monuments with tea breaks, and stay in a small hotel in Sultanahmet or Cankurtaran so you can walk home at night under the illuminated domes.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Sultanahmet: the back story before you go.