The Best Mosques to Visit in Istanbul

There are over 3000 mosques in Istanbul. That’s nearly four times as many as churches in Rome! While this is perhaps unsurprising for one of the biggest cities in the Middle East, it does mean that deciding which mosques to visit can be a difficult task.

Of course, they are all different. They can vary by size or neighbourhood or year they were built. Some, like the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, are well known, whereas others are less renowned. There’s also the proper mosque attire to bear in mind; keep reading for tips on that as well.

After trekking through the streets of Istanbul, I’ve compiled a list of my five favourite mosques I visited in the city. With the exception of the Hagia Sophia, which is now a museum, all the following mosques are free to enter. There’s no excuse not to visit as many as possible!

The Blue Mosque

Sultanahmet Mosque, AKA the Blue Mosque, is probably the most famous mosque in Istanbul. The eponymous Sultan Ahmed built it in the early 1600s in an attempt to try and bring some Ottoman power and pride to Turkey.

Istanbul’s Blue Mosque is famously one of the only mosques in Turkey with six minarets. The story goes that the architect misheard Sultan Ahmed’s instructions for “gold minarets” as “six minarets”, as the words are similar in Turkish. Whether this is true or not, the mosque’s six beacons are now a recognisable symbol of Istanbul.

I arrived at the Blue Mosque as it opened, eager to make the most of my time. The mosque is so named for the blue tiles that decorate its interior. However, it was being heavily renovated when I visited so sadly I could barely make out the iconic tiles.

Despite this, I was able to get a sense of the Blue Mosque’s scale and grandeur. Supported by truly enormous marble pillars, the many domes are surrounded by complex mosaics and hundreds of beautiful stained-glass windows.

Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia, or Ayasofya in Turkish, is just across the square from the Blue Mosque. When built in the 5th century, the Hagia Sophia was originally a Greek Orthodox Cathedral. However, when Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the mid-15th century, Hagia Sophia was converted into an imperial mosque.

Nowadays, the cathedral-turned-mosque is no longer a working place of worship. It’s affectionately called a museum, but there wasn’t much by way of exhibits inside. The main focus is definitely the building itself.

The mosque’s exterior is a beautiful dusty pink colour, which contrasts nicely its blue-grey domes. Inside is completely different, perhaps as a result of its Catholic influences.

Decorated in varying shades of ochre and gold, I found Hagia Sophia to have a really calming atmosphere. After entering through a breathtakingly large bronze door, Hagia Sophia is cool, dark and spacious. The dome reaches up 180 feet, and every inch is decorated in ancient, peeling frescos and mosaics. Giant, framed discs adorn the walls, proclaiming names from the Qur’an in Arabic. It’s a beautiful and mysterious building that holds thousands of years worth of history.

Yeni Cami

For a far less touristy mosque experience, I headed to Yeni Cami. Also known as New Mosque, Yeni Cami is a large mosque near the Galata Bridge.

By this point in my mosque-visiting experience, I was unsurprised when I turned up and found that it too was being renovated. However, I still enjoyed entering the mosque and people-watching regardless.

Like a lot of other mosques in Istanbul, Yeni Cami was built as the centre of a series of other buildings. Once attached to the mosque were places such as public baths, and even a school and hospital. Still remaining today is the Egyptian Spice Bazaar. Despite the renovation taking place, escaping into Yeni Cami gave me a welcome break from the hectic bazaar and the busy riverfront nearby. I could still make out the elaborately decorated dome, and the mosque was particularly peaceful for not being full of other tourists.

Ortaköy Mosque

Located north of the Golden Horn near the Dolmabahçe Palace, Ortaköy Mosque is right on the Bosporus. The way Ortaköy protrudes into the river, with Istanbul’s Asian side emerging mistily behind it, makes it a favourite spot of photographers and instagrammers.

I turned up at sunrise to catch golden hour, and it really was beautiful. Because it was so early, the Bosporus was almost completely still. The 15 July Martyrs Bridge stood out in front of the orange glow on the horizon as the sun broke through the trees.

Ortaköy Mosque is in one of Istanbul’s richer districts, and this is definitely reflected in the mosque’s interior decoration. Light floods in from Ortaköy’s many windows, and bounces off the chandeliers that decorate the ceiling.

Though Ortaköy isn’t as large as the other mosques on this list, and has just two humble minarets, it’s undoubtedly one of the most beautiful mosques in Istanbul.

Süleymaniye Mosque

The last spot on this list is reserved for Süleymaniye Mosque, which is absolutely my favourite mosque in Istanbul!

Nestled in the winding streets of Eminönü, I found Süleymaniye quite hard to locate, despite it being around the same size as the Blue Mosque. After circling its large walls I finally found a staircase into the grounds. There were locals relaxing in the large gardens, but far less tourists than at the Blue Mosque.

The mosque itself was bright and clean on the outside, with a beautiful mosaicked dome and high arching pillars on the inside. Moreover, Süleymaniye was one of the only mosques I visited that wasn’t being renovated, so I could appreciate it in its entirety.

As in the Blue Mosque, non-Muslim visitors have to keep off the prayer mats. However, as I gazed up at Süleymaniye’s intricate ceiling, a volunteer at the mosque approached me. She invited me to stay and witness the next prayer (Asr AKA late afternoon), which is normally off-limits to non-Muslims. This intimate experience escalated into a four-hour conversation about Islam as we sat on the floor of the mosque! We only got up to leave when we heard the call to prayer signalling iftar.

I definitely recommend asking to stay to watch the prayer if you visit Süleymaniye. It was one of my favourite experiences throughout my stay in Istanbul and I left at dusk feeling peaceful and content.

Mosque dress code and etiquette

With the exception of Hagia Sophia, which isn’t a working place of worship, all the other mosques have a strict dress code.

Women (gender is a strictly binary affair—believe me, I checked) are expected to cover their heads. Moreover, visitors should remove their shoes before entering the prayer hall. Some mosques, like the Blue Mosque, provide plastics bags to carry your shoes in. However, all the mosques I visited had shoe shelves just inside the entrance.

Though many of mosques display signs depicting the dress code, I found these to be a little outdated. I visited two different mosques wearing two different dresses well past my knees and both times I was asked to put on one of the maxi skirts they had to hand. It wasn’t only me, and it wasn’t just women either. I would say ankles are OK, but shins are a risk. On the other hand, they seemed less worried about arms being covered as long as shoulders were.

The Blue Mosque, Yeni Cami and Süleymaniye all had headscarves and skirts to hand out to those that needed to cover up. Don’t take this for granted, as sometimes it involves queuing if they run out, especially at the Blue Mosque. Here you are expected to be conservatively dressed as soon as you enter the courtyard. The other, less touristy mosques are more lax and only enforce the dress code once you take off your shoes to enter the prayer hall.

Mosque visiting hours

All the mosques on this list open to non-Muslim visitors around 9am and close in the evening. However, they also close temporarily throughout the day for about 45 minutes around prayer times.

I used this website to check prayer times during my stay in Istanbul. However, if you prefer to be spontaneous and don’t mind waiting around, most mosques I visited had a board at the entrance with the opening and closing times for the next prayer. Bear in mind that Friday is the Islamic holy day, so prayer times will be longer and busier.

My favourite times to visit were early to mid-morning and early afternoon, to avoid clashing with prayer times. This worked especially well on weekdays (excluding Fridays), when more locals were busy at work.

Hagia Sophia is open all day, regardless of prayer times.

This list encompasses my favourite mosques to visit in Istanbul, with Süleymaniye taking the top spot. However, there are so many mosques in the city that there is definitely one for everyone.

I would even suggest wearing appropriate mosque attire at all times, in case you pass one you’d like to pop into. You never know what beautiful, mosaicked dome you’ll find within!