A photograph of Türkiye

Country guide

Historic monuments in Türkiye — page 2

Türkiye is 783,562 km² across 81 provinces, most of it Anatolia in West Asia with East Thrace on the European side of the straits. It has three coasts to choose...

Photograph · Benh LIEU SONG · CC BY-SA 4.0

26,399 Places
7Cities

Reviewed by Elena Voss · Roavina Travel Editor

Türkiye is 783,562 km² across 81 provinces, most of it Anatolia in West Asia with East Thrace on the European side of the straits. It has three coasts to choose between — the Black Sea to the north, the Aegean to the west, the Mediterranean to the south — and an interior plateau that behaves like a different country in winter. Istanbul is the largest city and the economic centre, Ankara the capital and the second-largest, and the December 2025 population of 86,092,168 is weighted heavily to the west. A first trip is usually Istanbul and one coast; the plateau is the second trip.

Checked 2026-08-25

Cities

Every city catalogued in this country so far, ranked by how much there is to see.

Practical information

Language spoken
Turkish
The official language of the Republic of Turkiye
Dialling code
+90
The international dialling code for Turkiye
Currency
Turkish lira (₺, TRY)
The official currency; one lira is divided into 100 kurus
Emergency number
112
One number for ambulance, fire and police
Plug type
European two-pin · 220 V
The national living guide records 220 V and European-style two-pin plugs
Tap water
Not recorded
No verified national source in the dataset

Top things to see

Ranked by importance — sitelinks, pageviews and heritage status, not editor preference.

  1. Yedikule Fortress Yedikule Fortress
    26 1 hr 15 min

    Yedikule Fortress

    Yedikule Zindanları

    Yedikule is a fortress built out of an older monument.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Istanbul
  2. Letoon Letoon
    27 45 min

    Letoon

    Letoon is a Lycian sacred centre near Kumluova in Seydikemer, Muğla. It served as the federal sanctuary of the Lycian League and as the cult centre of Xanthos, the nearby Lycian capital.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Muğla
  3. Aspendos Aspendos
    28 1 hr 30 min

    Aspendos

    Aspendos is a ruined Pamphylian and Roman city standing on two low hills above the Eurymedon, the river now called the Köprüçay, in Belkıs Mahallesi in the Serik district of Antalya province.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Antalya
  4. Çırağan Palace Çırağan Palace
    29 20 min

    Çırağan Palace

    Çırağan Sarayı

    Çırağan Palace is the last of the great Ottoman waterfront palaces, and the only one a visitor cannot walk into.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Istanbul
  5. Gordion Gordion
    30 45 min

    Gordion

    Gordion is an archaeological site and museum complex in Yassıhöyük, within Ankara Province’s Polatlı district. It preserves the setting of the Phrygian capital and combines indoor displays with monumental burial mounds and the Inner Castle Mound.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Ankara
  6. Thyatira Thyatira
    31 35 min

    Thyatira

    Tepemezarı

    Thyatira is the ancient city underneath part of modern Akhisar, in Manisa province, and one of the seven churches addressed in the Book of Revelation.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Manisa
  7. Walled Obelisk Walled Obelisk
    32 10 min

    Walled Obelisk

    Örme Dikilitaş

    The Walled Obelisk, Örme Dikilitaş in Turkish and literally the masonry obelisk, stands 32 m tall on the spine of the old Hippodrome in what is now Sultanahmet Square, west of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Istanbul
  8. Rüstem Pasha Mosque Rüstem Pasha Mosque
    33 20 min

    Rüstem Pasha Mosque

    Rüstem Paşa Camii

    Rüstem Pasha Mosque does not sit on the street.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Istanbul
  9. Serpent Column Serpent Column
    34 10 min

    Serpent Column

    Yılanlı Sütun

    A battle trophy from 479 BC, standing in a hole in a square in Istanbul.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Istanbul
  10. The Stone of Million The Stone of Million
    35 10 min

    The Stone of Million

    Milyon Taşı

    What survives is a single weathered pillar fragment standing in a sunken plot beside the street, and it is the remnant of the Milion — the point from which the Eastern Roman Empire measured itself.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Istanbul
  11. Zeyrek Mosque Zeyrek Mosque
    36 30 min

    Zeyrek Mosque

    Zeyrek Molla Camii

    Zeyrek Camii was the Monastery of Christ Pantokrator, and after Hagia Sophia it is the largest Byzantine religious building still standing in Istanbul.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Istanbul
  12. Nuruosmaniye Mosque Nuruosmaniye Mosque
    37 20 min

    Nuruosmaniye Mosque

    Nuruosmaniye Camisi

    The Nuruosmaniye is where Ottoman architecture stopped being Ottoman in the classical sense. Begun in 1748 under Mahmud I and finished in 1755 under his brother Osman III, it is the first monumental Ottoman baroque building.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Istanbul
  13. Perge Perge
    38 45 min

    Perge

    Perga

    Perge is an ancient Greco-Roman city near Antalya, known locally as Perga. It was a significant settlement in Pamphylia and later an important city under Roman rule.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Antalya
  14. Republic Monument Republic Monument
    39 10 min

    Republic Monument

    Cumhuriyet Anıtı

    The Republic Monument stands in the middle of Taksim Square and is the founding statement of the Turkish Republic rendered in bronze and marble.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Istanbul
  15. Bodrum Castle Bodrum Castle
    40 45 min

    Bodrum Castle

    Bodrum Kalesi

    Bodrum Castle is a medieval fortress on a rocky peninsula between Bodrum’s two harbours, in the centre of town. The Knights of St John built it between 1406 and 1522, and the complex now houses the Bodrum Underwater Archaeology Museum.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Muğla
  16. Yavuz Selim Mosque Yavuz Selim Mosque
    41 35 min

    Yavuz Selim Mosque

    Yavuz Sultan Selim Cami

    Yavuz Selim Mosque crowns the top of the fifth hill of the historic peninsula, above the Golden Horn, and it is a memorial as much as it is a mosque.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Istanbul
  17. Column of the Goths Column of the Goths
    42 10 min

    Column of the Goths

    Gotlar Sütunu

    Near the Sarayburnu end of Gülhane Park, well away from the gate most visitors use, a single fluted shaft with a Corinthian capital stands among the trees carrying a Latin inscription: FORTVNAE REDVCI OB DEVICTOS GOTHOS — to Fortuna, who…

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Istanbul
  18. Column of Marcian Column of Marcian
    43 10 min

    Column of Marcian

    Kıztaşı

    A single granite column stands in a small railed square off Kıztaşı Caddesi in Fatih, and almost everybody who has heard of Istanbul has never heard of it.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Istanbul
  19. Kılıç Ali Pasha Mosque Kılıç Ali Pasha Mosque
    44 30 min

    Kılıç Ali Pasha Mosque

    Kılıç Ali Paşa Camii

    The man who paid for this mosque was born Giovanni Dionigi Galeni in Le Castella, in Calabria, around 1519.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Istanbul
  20. Çamlıca Tower Çamlıca Tower
    45 1 hr 30 min

    Çamlıca Tower

    Çamlıca Televizyon Kulesi

    Çamlıca Tower stands on Büyük Çamlıca Hill on the Asian side, the highest point overlooking the Bosphorus, and opened on 29 May 2021.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Istanbul
  21. Monument of Liberty Monument of Liberty
    46 15 min

    Monument of Liberty

    Abide-i Hürriyet

    The Monument of Liberty is an Ottoman-era memorial in Şişli commemorating the officers and soldiers who died putting down the countercoup of 31 March 1909 against the Young Turk constitutional government, an episode known in Turkish as the 31 Mart…

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Istanbul
  22. Çiçek Pasajı Çiçek Pasajı
    47 20 min

    Çiçek Pasajı

    Çiçek Pasajı is a covered arcade off İstiklal Caddesi in Beyoğlu, built in 1876 to the design of the architect Kleanthis Zannos and opened as the Cité de Péra.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Istanbul
  23. Kaunos Kaunos
    48 45 min

    Kaunos

    Kaunos is an archaeological site in Çandır Mahallesi, within Köyceğiz in Muğla Province, reached from Dalyan by boat across the river channels. It preserves an ancient port city whose maritime character changed when alluvial deposits filled the coast.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Muğla
  24. Patara Patara
    49 2 hr 30 min

    Patara

    Patara is the excavated remains of the harbour city that served as the capital of the Lycian League, spread across a sandy plain behind the beach at Gelemiş, in the Kaş district of Antalya province.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Antalya
  25. Column of Arcadius Column of Arcadius
    50 15 min

    Column of Arcadius

    Arkadyos Sütunu

    The Column of Arcadius is one of Constantinople's lost monuments, and what is left of it is the reason to come: a stump of imperial propaganda wedged between apartment blocks in Fatih.

    • Must see
    • Historic monument
    • Istanbul

Source: OpenStreetMap contributors, Wikidata ·

Common questions

How long should a first trip to Türkiye be?

Ten to fourteen days allows about four days in İstanbul and at least three around Antalya when coastal archaeology is included. Cappadocia needs its own regional stay, and a one-way coastal route is more workable than returning to the same city each night.

What entry documents are needed for Türkiye?

Türkiye's visa position varies by passport and purpose. Verify the rule through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and, when eligible, use only the official e-Visa service rather than an intermediary.

What is the best way to travel around Türkiye?

İstanbul's two airports and Antalya are the principal gateways for this itinerary. Domestic flights cover long cross-country legs, coaches serve many city pairs, and high-speed rail is most useful on the İstanbul-Ankara axis rather than as a universal substitute.

When is a practical time to visit Türkiye?

April to May and September to October are broad choices for combining İstanbul with the Mediterranean coast. Cappadocia nights, inland heat, and Antalya's coastal conditions differ, so confirm weather for each overnight base.

What money and payment basics apply in Türkiye?

Türkiye uses the Turkish lira (TRY). Keep lira available for smaller transport and market transactions even when cards are accepted, and review the displayed amount in TRY before agreeing to any card conversion.

What practical safety details should I save for Türkiye?

Dial 112 for emergencies in Türkiye. Electricity is 230 V through Type C and F sockets; tap-water safety is not recorded here, so obtain current local advice at each stop.