Istanbul › Places and landmarks
New Mosque
Yeni Cami
The great mosque on the water at Eminönü, begun in 1597 and finished 68 years later.
Photo: Till Niermann, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The Valide Sultan Safiye, mother of Mehmed III, had the mosque begun in 1597 on the shore of the Golden Horn. The works stopped when she lost her power, and it was another mother of a sultan, Turhan Hatice, who had it finished in 1665. That is why a mosque more than three hundred years old is still called new.
Its domes and two minarets rise over the ferry quays of Eminönü, and the pigeons on its steps and the stalls in its courtyard make it one of the liveliest corners of the city. Visit it in 3D ›
More in Istanbul
Hagia SophiaJustinian’s great church of 537, with its dome 55 metres high: a church, then a mosque, a museum and a mosque again.
Blue MosqueThe mosque of Sultan Ahmed I, with six minarets and some twenty thousand blue tiles from İznik inside.
HippodromeThe long square where Byzantium held its chariot races, with an Egyptian obelisk and a bronze serpent column still on it.
Basilica CisternThe underground water store of Justinian, a forest of 336 columns standing in the water.
Topkapı PalaceThe palace of the Ottoman sultans for almost four hundred years, on the tip of the peninsula above the Bosphorus.
Grand BazaarOne of the oldest and largest covered markets in the world, some sixty streets and four thousand shops under one roof.
Spice BazaarThe L-shaped covered market by the New Mosque, full of spices, dried fruit, tea and Turkish delight.
Galata BridgeThe bridge over the Golden Horn from Eminönü to Karaköy, lined with anglers on top and fish restaurants below.
Sirkeci StationThe end of the line for the Orient Express from Paris, a station of 1890 by the sea.
Column of ConstantineThe column Constantine the Great set up in 330 for the founding of his new capital, held together by iron hoops.
SimitThe sesame bread ring sold from red carts on every corner, eaten for breakfast with a glass of tea.
FerriesThe white ferries that carry Istanbul across the Bosphorus between Europe and Asia, from the quays of Eminönü.