Istanbul Railway Museum

Museum in a restored building that was the stables for Topkapı Palace. It exhibits various instruments for astronomy, clocks, pumps, weaponry, a steam-powered döner spit, and so on developed in Islamic realms down the centuries, but these are modern repro, and explanations of their context are skimpy. Islamic science and technology preceded that of Europe, as they insist, but they get the tone wrong, as if that was the triumphal culmination rather than the springboard for further advance.

Built in 1741, the last major hamam opened in the Ottoman era. It has ornate architecture, great service and a stellar cast of famous visitors. Prices to match, and only tourists now use it.

Turkey was slow to protect its antiquities and to display them properly, but in 1867 Sultan Abdülaziz toured the museums of Paris, London and Vienna and saw what was needed. The main collection is in a grand neo-classical building of 1891, with two annexes for ancient art and Islamic art. Exhibits include Sumerian tablets, pieces of the wall of Babylon, Roman statues, and the Alexander Sarcophagus. There are very detailed historical explanations in both Turkish and English. There is also quite an accurate exhibition about the historical layers and epochs of the city of Troy. If you are passionate about history, you can spend many hours here, so bring a supply of water and food (the museum café is quite expensive). In the summer, on Saturdays and Sundays, they have concerts in the courtyard.

The imperial enclave of the Ottoman emperors for four centuries. Lavishly decorated, with exhibitions of fine craftmanship and four courts of increasing grandeur. The second court has the Harem and the State Treasury, housing a weaponry display. On the right, towards the Bosphorus, there is the kitchen exhibition, also with a collection of coffee cups throughout the centuries. The third court has the Imperial Treasury on the right (also with a great view over the Bosphorus) and a collection of Islamic and Christian relics on the left. The views from the Fourth Court over the Bosphorus are spectacular. Reckon on spending several hours here and bring water as the museum kiosk is overpriced. The museum kiosk is in the kitchen section, on the right-hand side of the second court. Toilets can also be found there, towards the beginning of the second court. These have a shorter line than those in the second court, towards the third court.

Built in 1564 by Mimar Sinan for Rüstem Pasha, Grand Vizier of Suleiman the Magnificent, this small mosque has an interior covered by beautiful Iznik pottery, then at its zenith.

The third and grandest of the churches on this site, completed in 537 AD. The 30-m diameter dome covers what was for over 1000 years the largest enclosed space in the world, only surpassed in 1520 by Seville cathedral. It used "pendentive" architecture to throw the dome's weight onto four stout pillars, a design that inspired many Eastern Orthodox churches and Ottoman mosques. It became a mosque after the Ottoman conquest in 1453, remaining so until 1931. It was then a museum until 2020 when it was again proclaimed a mosque. That means you must work around prayer times and dress appropriately. Very cheap disposable headscarves are available for purchase outside the building.