Byzantine vs Ottoman Istanbul: Which Sites to See and in What Order

Byzantine Istanbul is the Christian imperial city of Constantinople, from its refounding by Constantine in 330 AD to the Ottoman conquest on 29 May 1453; Ottoman Istanbul is everything the sultans built over the next 470 years. Most first-time visitors see both in Sultanahmet without noticing where one ends and the other begins. This guide separates them: which sites belong to which empire, what is still open, which to prioritise if you have one, two or three days, and how to order your visits so the story makes sense. If you would rather follow one thread with a guide, our Byzantium relics half-day tour and Ottoman relics half-day tour are built exactly around this split.

The difference matters on the ground: Byzantine sites are older, often partly buried and spread out to the land walls, while Ottoman ones are mostly complete and still in use as mosques or palaces.

Byzantine and Ottoman Istanbul in one timeline

Istanbul has been a capital for roughly 1,600 years under two empires. The table gives the key dates and the buildings you can still see from each phase.

In 1923 the new Republic of Türkiye made Ankara its capital, which ended Istanbul's 1,600 years as an imperial seat but left almost every building above in place.

Byzantine Istanbul: the core sites in Sultanahmet

Everything here is within a 15-minute walk, which makes Sultanahmet the natural first morning for anyone who comes for history.

Hagia Sophia. Justinian's great church was completed in 537 after the previous church burned in the Nika riots. For almost a thousand years it was the largest church in Christendom. Mehmed II converted it into a mosque in 1453, it became a museum in the 1930s, and it was turned back into a mosque in 2020. Today foreign visitors use a separate route to the upper galleries, where the best surviving mosaics are, including the Deësis panel, while the ground floor is kept for prayer. Foreign visitors pay a separate fee for this route; the details are in our Hagia Sophia ticket price update. Read the building first through its Byzantine eyes, then notice the Ottoman additions: the minarets, the mihrab and the giant calligraphic roundels. Our Hagia Sophia page has the full background.

Basilica Cistern. Across the road, this underground reservoir from Justinian's reign in the 6th century held water for the Great Palace. It is a forest of 336 columns, many of them reused from older buildings, including the two Medusa heads at the far end. It shows how much of Byzantine Istanbul sits below street level.

The Hippodrome. The long square in front of the Blue Mosque follows the line of the Byzantine chariot-racing track. Three monuments still stand on the old central barrier: the Egyptian obelisk of Thutmose III, set up here by Theodosius I in 390; the bronze Serpent Column, brought from Delphi; and the rough stone Walled Obelisk. This was the political centre of Constantinople, where emperors were cheered and riots began.

Hagia Irene. Inside the first courtyard of Topkapı Palace stands the other great Justinian church. Unusually, the Ottomans never turned it into a mosque. It served as an armoury instead, which is why its plain brick interior survived with its original atrium. Check whether your Topkapı ticket includes it before you queue.

Little Hagia Sophia. A short walk downhill, the former Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus was built under Justinian in the 520s and 530s, a few years before Hagia Sophia, and became a mosque in the Ottoman period. It is quiet, free and often skipped.

One site you may read about is the Great Palace Mosaic Museum behind the Blue Mosque. It closed for restoration in 2023 and, as of November 2026, no reopening date had been announced, so do not build a plan around it.

Byzantine Istanbul beyond Sultanahmet

The second Byzantine layer is spread out to the west, near the old land walls. It takes a car or a long walk, which is why most group tours skip it.

Chora (Kariye Mosque). The former Chora Church in Edirnekapı holds some of the finest late Byzantine mosaics and frescoes anywhere, made in the early 14th century. It reopened as a mosque on 6 May 2024 after long restoration work. Foreign visitors pay an entrance fee, and access is restricted during prayers and on Fridays, so check before you go. The narthex mosaics showing the life of Christ and the Virgin are the reason to come. See our Chora page.

The Theodosian Walls. Built in the 5th century under Theodosius II, the triple line of land walls ran from the Sea of Marmara to the Golden Horn and kept the city safe for about a thousand years. They were finally breached in 1453. You can see restored stretches at Edirnekapı and Topkapı (the gate, not the palace), and at Yedikule, where the Ottomans later built a fortress around the old Golden Gate. Our Yedikule, Galata Tower and Balat tour covers that end of the walls.

Valens Aqueduct. The tall double-arched aqueduct across Atatürk Boulevard dates from the late 4th century and carried water into the city for centuries, later repaired by the Ottomans. You will drive under it on the way to Fatih and Chora.

Pantokrator (Zeyrek Mosque). A 12th-century monastery church complex of the Komnenos dynasty, later a mosque, on the hill above the Golden Horn. It is a working mosque, so visit outside prayer times.

Fener and Balat. The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Fener has been the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarch since the early 17th century, and nearby churches still hold services. This is the place where Byzantine Christianity continues as a living tradition rather than as a monument. Our Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarchate page and the Christian heritage tour of Istanbul cover it in detail.

Ottoman Istanbul: Topkapı and the imperial mosques

Mehmed II began Topkapı Palace around 1459 on the site of the old Byzantine acropolis, and it stayed the main residence of the sultans until the court moved to Dolmabahçe in 1856. The palace is not one building but a sequence of courtyards, each more private than the last: the public first court, the council hall of the second court, the treasury and relic rooms of the third, and the pavilions of the fourth looking over the Bosphorus. The Harem needs its own time. Topkapı is closed on Tuesdays. Our Topkapı Palace page explains the layout.

The mosques are the clearest Ottoman statement. Each sultan built a mosque complex (külliye) with schools, a hospital, a soup kitchen and a tomb, and placed it on a hilltop so the domes would dominate the skyline.

• Süleymaniye Mosque (1550-1557). Mimar Sinan's masterpiece for Süleyman the Magnificent, on the third hill. Its courtyard and the tombs of Süleyman and his wife Hürrem are as important as the prayer hall. The terrace behind it has one of the best views over the Golden Horn. See Süleymaniye Mosque.
• Blue Mosque (1609-1616). Built by Sultan Ahmed I opposite Hagia Sophia, with six minarets and an interior lined with İznik tiles. It is still a working mosque and free to enter outside prayer times.
• Rüstem Pasha Mosque. A small Sinan mosque above the shops near the Spice Bazaar, built for Süleyman's grand vizier in the early 1560s. It has the finest İznik tilework in the city at close range.

If you want to see how these buildings relate to Hagia Sophia, stand in the Hippodrome and look both ways: Ottoman architects spent a century trying to match and surpass Justinian's dome, and the Blue Mosque was placed deliberately to face it. Our Istanbul mosques tour page covers etiquette and the best order of visits.

Late Ottoman Istanbul: the Bosphorus palaces and fortresses

The Ottoman story does not end in the old city. Two buildings frame the empire on the Bosphorus.

Rumeli Fortress (1452). Mehmed II built this fortress on the European shore in a matter of months before the siege, to control the strait and cut off help from the Black Sea. It is the opening chapter of Ottoman Istanbul, built a year before the conquest.

Dolmabahçe Palace (completed 1856). By the 19th century the sultans wanted a European-style palace, and Dolmabahçe replaced Topkapı as the main residence. Its crystal staircase and the huge ceremonial hall show an empire trying to modernise. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk died here in 1938, and the clocks in his room are kept at 9:05. Dolmabahçe is closed on Mondays.

Beylerbeyi Palace. The summer palace on the Asian shore, built in the 1860s, is smaller and easier to visit than Dolmabahçe. Our Beylerbeyi Palace and Çamlıca Hill tour pairs it with the view from the Asian side.

Where the two empires overlap

The most interesting places in Istanbul are the ones where Byzantine and Ottoman layers share the same building. The Ottomans rarely destroyed the great churches. They converted them, added minarets and a mihrab, plastered over figurative mosaics in some cases, and kept using the structures. That is why Hagia Sophia, Little Hagia Sophia, Chora and Zeyrek all survive.

Other overlaps are less obvious. Topkapı sits on the Byzantine acropolis, and Hagia Irene stands in its first courtyard. Yedikule Fortress wraps Ottoman towers around the Byzantine Golden Gate. The Grand Bazaar grew around a 15th-century Ottoman core, close to the old Forum of Constantine, where the battered Column of Constantine still stands by Çemberlitaş tram stop.

A good way to see the overlap is to visit Hagia Sophia and the Süleymaniye on the same day. One is the building Ottoman architects studied; the other is their answer.

Which to prioritise: plans for one, two and three days

You do not need a week to see both empires, but you do need to choose. The table shows what fits.

If you are a history lover with only one day, the combined plan gives you the most continuous story: the Byzantine core in the morning, Ottoman power in the afternoon, and the skyline of domes at the end. For longer stays, see our 3-day Istanbul itinerary for a full day-by-day plan that includes food and the Bosphorus.

Practical tips: closing days, prayer times and dress

• Closing days. Topkapı Palace closes on Tuesdays and Dolmabahçe on Mondays. Plan the two palaces on different days, and avoid putting Topkapı on a Tuesday.
• Prayer times. Working mosques, including Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Süleymaniye, Chora and Rüstem Pasha, close to visitors for a period around each of the five daily prayers, and for longer at midday on Friday. Mornings before the midday prayer are the easiest time.
• Dress. For all mosques, shoulders and knees should be covered, and women need a headscarf. Our what to wear in Istanbul guide covers it in detail.
• Tickets. Museum fees for foreign visitors are set in euros or lira and change, usually at the start of the year. Hagia Sophia, Topkapı, Chora and the Basilica Cistern each have separate tickets, so budget for several.
• Walking. The historic peninsula is hilly. The Byzantine sites in the west, around Chora and the walls, are far from the tram, so a car or taxi saves hours.

If you would like someone else to handle the order and tickets, a private guide can join both halves of the story in a single day. Our sister site private Istanbul tours also runs guided days in the old city.

Tours that cover this

• Half-Day Istanbul Tour: Byzantium Relics — from $67 per person. The Byzantine core in one morning.
• Half-Day Istanbul Tour: Ottoman Relics — from $88 per person. The Ottoman mosques and palace in one session.
• Istanbul History Tour — from $161 per person, for both empires with a licensed guide.
• Istanbul Active Churches Tour with Private Guide — 7 hours, from $180 per person, focused on the Christian heritage of Fener, Balat and beyond.

For more options see all our Istanbul tours and the Istanbul destination guide.

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