Süleymaniye Mosque
See Mimar Sinan's imperial masterpiece from the terrace it was sited on to command the whole Golden Horn.
Enough context, no spoilers
Why it matters
Built between 1550 and 1557 for Süleyman the Magnificent by Mimar Sinan at the peak of Ottoman power. It was never just a mosque but a külliye, a charitable complex with madrasas, a medical school, a hospital, a soup kitchen, a caravanserai and a hamam, endowed by rents from the shops around it. The central dome is 26.5 metres across and rises 53 metres. Sinan built his own modest tomb just outside.
What to know before you go
Süleymaniye rewards the uphill walk more than almost any other site in the city, because the siting is the point: the terrace on the Third Hill looks straight down over the Golden Horn to Galata. It is markedly less crowded than Sultanahmet and free to enter. Come outside prayer times and allow time for the courtyard and cemetery as well as the prayer hall. The street behind the complex is lined with long-established kuru fasulye houses, which is the traditional lunch here. From the terrace it is a downhill walk to Rüstem Paşa Mosque and the Spice Bazaar at Eminönü.