Historic city
Monuments & temples · İstanbul

Istanbul’s historic peninsula

UNESCO World HeritageGreek–Ottomanin İstanbul

Byzantium, then Constantinople, then Istanbul: the peninsula between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara holds Hagia Sophia, the Hippodrome, Topkapı Palace and the land walls. World Heritage since 1985.

Plan the visitIts place in history

Plan your visit

Time to allow
About two or three days

For a first visit at an easy pace.

Stay in
İstanbul

The place is in town.

On a trip
Not on a trip yet

See it from the town above.

Hours and tickets
Check before you go

Opening hours and prices change: see muze.gov.tr (opens in a new tab).

Times are our estimates. Distances are straight lines.

Its place in history

Read the chapter before you go.

AD 330–1453Byzantine and ArmenianConstantine made Byzantium his capital, Constantinople, and Justinian built Hagia Sophia there.1071–1922Seljuk and OttomanAfter the battle of Manzikert in 1071 the Seljuks settled Anatolia and made Konya their capital, with caravanserais along the trade roads.

Where its treasures are now

In Türkiye

Serpent Column head fragment

479 BC. The upper jaw of one of the three snake heads of the Plataea victory monument brought from Delphi to the Hippodrome by Constantine.

Istanbul Archaeology Museums, Istanbul
In Türkiye

Great Palace mosaics

6th century AD. Hunting, pastoral and fighting scenes from a palace peristyle, the largest surviving secular Byzantine mosaic.

Great Palace Mosaics Museum, Istanbul
In Türkiye

Chain of the Golden Horn

used until 1453. Links of the boom chain that closed the Golden Horn to enemy ships; Mehmed II bypassed it in 1453 by dragging ships overland.

Istanbul Military Museum, Istanbul
In Türkiye

Yenikapı shipwrecks

5th–11th century AD. 37 ships found during the Marmaray rail works from 2004, the largest medieval shipwreck find in the world.

Istanbul Archaeology Museums / Istanbul University, Istanbul
Abroad

İznik tile panels from Hagia Sophia (Selim II türbe area; 1,577 tiles cited)

Türkiye is seeking repatriation; unresolved as of March 2026

Louvre (shown at Louvre-Lens), Paris / Lens

From here

Open in OpenStreetMap (opens in a new tab) · Directions to Istanbul’s historic peninsula (opens in a new tab)

Also nearby

  • 5 km
    Chalcedon

    City, Greek–Byzantine

  • 17 km
    Rhegion (Küçükçekmece)

    City, Roman–Byzantine

  • museum
    Great Palace Mosaic Museum

    Byzantine Great Palace peristyle floor mosaics

  • museum
    Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya)

    Byzantine mosaics (mosque since 2020; history museum alongside)

  • museum
    Istanbul Archaeology Museums

    Alexander Sarcophagus, Kadesh treaty tablet, Siloam inscription

  • museum
    Kariye (Chora)

    Palaeologan mosaics and frescoes (mosque since 2024)

Location precise · Source (opens in a new tab)