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....

The third sacred building on the site to bear the name, the existing Haghia Sophia ('Divine Wisdom') was dedicated on 26 December AD 537 by Emperor Justinian. He had come to...

Although this little island was occupied by a fortress in Byzantine times, the tower dates from the last century. In Turkish it's known as Kız Kulesi, or Maiden's Tower -...

Consisting of three huge towers joined by crenellated defensive walls, the fortress was raised in a hurry as part of Mehmet II's master plan to capture Constantinople. Facing...

This unrestored Byzantine reservoir is what the more famous Yerebatan Sarnıçı would have looked like before it was cleaned up for tourists.

Directly behind Haghia Sophia are the walls shielding Topkapı Palace. Part command centre for a massive military empire, part archetypal Eastern pleasure dome, the palace was...

Impressively restored, this Byzantine 'castle of the seven towers' was remodelled by the Ottomans. Its western face incorporates the Golden Gate (now bricked up), a triumphal...

Built by the Emperor Justinian at the same time as the Haghia Sophia, it was forgotten for centuries and only rediscovered by a Frenchman, Peter Gyllius, in 1545 when he...