This is the only institution in Istanbul dedicated to the Whirling Dervishes that is open to the public. A peaceful courtyard leads through to the octagonal tekke (lodge), a...

Sultan Abdulhamid II established Yıldız Porcelain Factory in 1890 at the suggestion of the French ambassador Paul Cambon, to provide a ready supply of fancy china for the...

Organises cooking courses for parents and their children. Cooking activities for kids take place once a month on Saturday or Sunday. Call ahead for the date and reservation....

An absolutely magical attraction, which recreates 105 of Turkey's most famous sights in miniature. The models range from a palm-sized Leander's Tower to a Sultanahmet Mosque...

Activities for children up to six. There are workshops on arts and crafts, drama, experiments and games. Arrangements are flexible: you can join in with your child, or drop him...

This indoor playground has three different rooms - all supervised - and a great outdoor playground, featuring mazes and tube slides. There's also a half- or full-day crèche for...

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...

Originally an ancient sanctuary of Artemis, the first church was built over the 'life-giving spring' here in the early Byzantine era. Destroyed and rebuilt many times, the...

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

Mahmut II (1808-39) was the sultan who crushed the Janissaries. He must have been a formidable force in the harem, too, for he produced 15 sons and 12 daughters, many of whom...

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...