32
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
Country guide
Theme: History in Türkiye — page 3
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.
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Istanbul
Photograph · Ben Morlok · CC BY-SA 2.0
Istanbul 8,219 places -
Ankara
Photograph · Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0
Ankara 5,060 places -
Antalya
Photograph · REHBER0770 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Antalya 5,798 places -
İzmir
Photograph · Anonymous · CC0
İzmir 2,764 places -
Muğla
Photograph · Dan Taylor · CC BY 2.0
Muğla 2,951 places -
Nevşehir
Photograph · Dogaaunlu · CC BY-SA 4.0
Nevşehir 1,054 places -
Manisa
Photograph · Egemenakgul · CC BY-SA 4.0
Manisa 553 places
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.
Filter the list
514 places match
Category
Typical visit duration
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33 45 minGordion
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
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34 35 minThyatira
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
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35 10 minWalled 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
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36 20 minRüstem Pasha Mosque
Rüstem Paşa Camii
Rüstem Pasha Mosque does not sit on the street.
- Must see
- Historic monument
- Istanbul
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37 1 hr 30 minTurkish and Islamic Arts Museum
Türk ve İslam Eserleri Müzesi
The Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum is housed in the Ibrahim Pasha Palace, a stone mansion of 1524 that belonged to Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha, the second grand vizier of Suleiman the Magnificent.
- Must see
- Museum
- Istanbul
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38 1 hourPalace of the Porphyrogenitus
Tekfur Sarayı is the last Byzantine palace in Istanbul still standing to its full height, and it survives because it was never important enough to be worth demolishing.
- Must see
- Museum
- Istanbul
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39 10 minSerpent Column
Yılanlı Sütun
A battle trophy from 479 BC, standing in a hole in a square in Istanbul.
- Must see
- Historic monument
- Istanbul
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40 10 minThe 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
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41 30 minZeyrek 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
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42 20 minNuruosmaniye 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
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43 10 minRepublic 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
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44 2 hoursİstanbul Modern
İstanbul Modern Sanat Müzesi
Istanbul Modern opened on 11 December 2004 as Turkey's first museum of modern and contemporary art, installed in Entrepo No. 4, a customs warehouse from the 1950s standing on the Karaköy quay.
- Must see
- Museum
- Istanbul
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45 1 hr 30 minPera Museum
Pera Müzesi
Pera Museum is a private art museum on the Beyoğlu ridge, established on 8 June 2005 by the Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation. Its building was not built as a museum.
- Must see
- Museum
- Istanbul
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46 45 minSüleymaniye Mosque
Süleymaniye Camii
The Süleymaniye is Sinan's imperial mosque for Süleyman the Magnificent, founded in 1550 and inaugurated in 1557, and it is the one to see if you only see one.
- Must see
- Place of worship
- Istanbul
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47 45 minBodrum 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
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48 2 hoursMiniatürk
Miniatürk Açıkhava Müzesi
Miniatürk opened on 2 May 2003 on the northeastern shore of the Golden Horn, and the idea behind it is straightforward: shrink the architecture of Turkey and the former Ottoman world to one twenty-fifth of full size and lay it…
- Must see
- Museum
- Istanbul
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49 45 minTheodosius Cistern
Şerefiye Sarnıcı
Şerefiye Sarnıcı is a Roman water tank that spent most of the last three centuries with a building sitting on top of it.
- Must see
- Museum
- Istanbul
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50 35 minYavuz 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
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51 45 minKüçüksu Pavillion
Küçüksu Kasrı
Kucuksu is a kasir and not a saray, and the whole visit turns on that distinction.
- Must see
- Museum
- Istanbul
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52 10 minColumn 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
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53 10 minColumn 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
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54 30 minKılıç 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
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55 1 hr 30 minÇamlıca 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
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56 15 minMonument 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
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.