Built between 1323 and 1337, and dedicated to St Dominic and St Paul, this was the largest of Constantinople's Latin churches. In the early 16th century, it was converted into...

Built in 1501-06, this was the second great mosque complex to be founded in the city. The first, the Fatih Mosque, was destroyed, which makes Beyazıt the oldest imperial mosque...

After being deposed in 1908, Sultan Abdül Hamit II spent the last years of his life here. Facing north-west, the palace gets little direct sunlight - it was intended as a...

Like the more famous Yerebatan cistern, this one is a Byzantine forest of pillars and brick-vaulted ceilings, but sadly the restorers have put in a false floor that halves the...

First constructed around AD 500, the palace was extended in the 11th and 12th centuries, by which time it had become the favoured imperial residence. It's now mostly in ruins....

Located way out in Darıca, 45km (30 miles) from the city centre, but worth the trip for its wide range of exotic birds and animals, gardens and playground.

Otherwise known as St Mary of the Mongols, this 13th-century church was erected in honour of Princess Maria, daughter of Emperor Michael VIII, who was married off to the khan...

Often overlooked because it's so far off the beaten track, for Byzantine splendour this church (also known as the Kariye Mosque or Museum) is second only to Haghia Sophia....

Erected in 1871 for Istanbul's Bulgarian community, this church is still used today by Macedonian Christians. It is constructed entirely from prefabricated iron sections, cast...

Tentatively dated to the 13th century, this church was taken over by the Armenians in the early 17th century. Although much of the current structure dates from 1835, the side...

Ballet and jazz classes start at YTL180 for a course.

Irrefutable evidence of an empire on its last legs, Dolmabahçe Palace was built for Abdül Mecit by Karabet Balyan and his son Nikoĸos. It was completed in 1855, whereupon the...

In front of the New Mosque is a pigeon-plagued plaza busy with itinerant street sellers and dominated on its south side by the high brick arch leading into the Egyptian Bazaar,...

Fatih Mosque is a popular place for pious picnickers. The vast 18th-century baroque structure is built on the site of the Church of the Holy Apostles, burial place of most...