Istanbul’s Beautiful Mosques

ISTANBUL, Turkey (Türkiye) — Istanbul’s mosques dominate the city’s skyline, and their understated and elegant interiors can be stunningly beautiful. Here are some examples from some of Istanbul’s most famous mosques.

Mosque against the setting sun in Istanbul

“The beauty I see in Suleymaniye Mosque is in its lines, in the elegant spaces beneath its dome, in the opening out of its side domes, in the proportions of its walls and empty spaces, in the counterpoint of its support towers and its little arches, in its whiteness, and in the purity of the lead on its domes.”

Orhan Parmuk, Istanbul

Perched strategically on many of the city’s highest points, Istanbul’s elegant mosques dominate the city’s skyline. With their Ottoman-style domed central structures and minarets towering over a city that has mostly shunned tall western-style skyscrapers, the mosques provide a distinctive and exotic silhouette of a fascinating city.

There are a lot of mosques in Istanbul—a recent count pegged the number to be just shy of 3,000—but three of Istanbul’s mosques really stand out—the Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque) and Hagia Sophia (Aya Sofya) in the heart of Sultanahmet, and Suleymaniye looming over the Golden Horn—and it is to these that most visitors understandably flock, but many others are scattered throughout the city.

Old Christian cathedrals like Westminster Abbey in London, Reims Cathedral, St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, St. Peter’s in Rome, or Notre Dame in Paris, revel in their opulence. Over centuries, they’ve tended to accumulate a hodgepodge of tributes, statues, paintings, and stained glass, and some of the most impressive are so because of the sheer accumulation of gaudy and opulent clutter collected over centuries, with paintings, statues, and a mishmash of other paraphernalia crammed into dank and musty nooks and crannies tucked into the building’s perimeter.

Although the earliest ones derived inspiration from some of Christendom’s most soaring cathedrals, Istanbul’s mosques are in stark contrast with that kind of piecemeal approach, aiming instead for understated and functional.

That isn’t to say they are any less impressive—far from it, they achieve an impressive elegance. But they save their decorative wow-factor for the astonishingly intricate and colorful ceramic tiling that covers much of the interior. A massive central dome—an architectural and technological marvel in its own right—sits above the main worship space, and rather than the altar of a Christian church, the focal point for worship is a comparatively simple mihrab, a semi-circular niche in the wall indicating the direction of Mecca. Where Christian churches are crammed with chairs and pews, the mosques have only open floor covered with a massive expanse of ornate Turkish carpet.

The Call to Prayer

One of the most striking aspects of the mosques is something that you can’t see. Look closely at the minarets on many mosques and you’ll see megaphone-shaped loudspeakers mounted partway up that serve to blare out the call to prayer five times a day, making it audible for much of the surrounding area. Along with electrical lighting, they provide one of the few nods to modern technology.

Although their message remains simple and constant, the calls, sung by a single voice for each mosque, are wonderfully melodic and musical, as each singer adds his own interpretative style. Responding to the call, worshippers gather in the mosque for service, kneeling facing the mihrab with worship led by the imam.

Photos of Istanbul’s Mosques

Suleymaniye Mosque Istanbul
Suleymaniye Mosque. Photo by David Coleman / Have Camera Will Travel
Suleymaniye Mosque Istanbul
Süleymaniye Mosque. Photo by David Coleman / Have Camera Will Travel
Suleymaniye Mosque Istanbul
Süleymaniye Mosque. Photo by David Coleman / Have Camera Will Travel
Rustem Pasha Mosque in Istanbul with tourists
Rustem Pasha Mosque. Photo by David Coleman / Have Camera Will Travel
Suleymaniye Mosque Istanbul
Süleymaniye Mosque. Photo by David Coleman / Have Camera Will Travel
Suleymaniye Mosque Istanbul
Süleymaniye Mosque. Photo by David Coleman / Have Camera Will Travel
Rustem Pasha Mosque in Istanbul interior with lights and ceiling
Rustem Pasha Mosque. Photo by David Coleman / Have Camera Will Travel
Suleymaniye Mosque Istanbul
Suleymaniye Mosque. Photo by David Coleman / Have Camera Will Travel
New Mosque (Yeni Cami) at Dusk, Istanbul at Dusk
New Mosque (Yeni Cami). Photo by David Coleman / Have Camera Will Travel
Prayer Hall of Nuruosmaniye Mosque Istanbul
Nuruosmaniye Mosque. Photo by David Coleman / Have Camera Will Travel
Golden sunset Suleymaniye Mosque silhouette
Suleymaniye Mosque. Photo by David Coleman / Have Camera Will Travel
Suleymaniye Mosque Istanbul
Suleymaniye Mosque. Photo by David Coleman / Have Camera Will Travel
Interior of Rustem Pasha Mosque in Istanbul
Rustem Pasha Mosque. Photo by David Coleman / Have Camera Will Travel
Suleymaniye Mosque silhouette with sun and haze
Suleymaniye Mosque. Photo by David Coleman / Have Camera Will Travel
Blue Mosque Interior Istanbul
The Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Camii). Photo by David Coleman / Have Camera Will Travel
Prayer Hall of the New Mosque (Yeni Cami) Istanbul
New Mosque (Yeni Cami).Photo by David Coleman / Have Camera Will Travel
Silhouette of Cupola of Dolmabahce Mosque in Istanbul Turkey
Dolmabahce Mosque. Photo by David Coleman / Have Camera Will Travel
Blue Mosque at dusk (Sultan Ahmed Mosque)
The Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Camii) across Sultanahmet. Photo by David Coleman / Have Camera Will Travel

Travel Advice for Turkey (Turkiye)

You can find the latest U.S. Department of State travel advisories and information for Turkey (Turkiye) (such as entry visa requirements and vaccination requirements) here.

The British and Australian governments offer their own country-specific travel information. You can find the British Government's travel advice for Turkey (Turkiye) here and the Australian Government's here.

Health & Vaccinations

The CDC makes country-specific recommendations for vaccinations and health for travelers. You can find their latest information for Turkey (Turkiye) here.

General Information on Turkey (Turkiye)

The CIA's World Factbook contains a lot of good factual information Turkey (Turkiye) and is updated frequently.

  • Official Name: Republic of Turkey (Türkiye Cumhuriyeti)
  • Location: Southeastern Europe and Southwestern Asia (the Anatolian Peninsula), bordered by eight countries: Greece and Bulgaria to the northwest, Georgia to the northeast, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran to the east, and Iraq and Syria to the south
  • Coastline: Mediterranean Sea to the south, Aegean Sea to the west, and Black Sea to the north
  • Capital: Ankara
  • Largest City: Istanbul
  • Population (2021 estimate): 85 million
  • Ethnic Groups: Predominantly Turkish (70-75%), Kurds (19%), and other minorities (including Arabs, Circassians, and Laz)
  • Official Language: Turkish
  • Religions: Islam (predominantly Sunni), with small Christian and Jewish communities
  • Government: Unitary parliamentary republic
  • President (as of 2021): Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
  • Prime Minister (as of 2021): Not applicable (the position was abolished in 2018)
  • Area: 783,356 square kilometers (302,455 square miles)
  • GDP (2021 estimate): $771 billion (nominal)
  • GDP per capita (2021 estimate): $9,042 (nominal)
  • Currency: Turkish Lira (TRY)
  • Time Zone: GMT+3 (Turkey Time)
  • Internet TLD: .tr
  • Calling Code: +90
  • Major Industries: Textiles, food processing, automotive, electronics, tourism, mining, steel, petroleum, construction, lumber, paper
  • Natural Resources: Coal, iron ore, copper, chromium, antimony, mercury, gold, barite, borate, celestite, emery, feldspar, limestone, magnesite, marble, perlite, pumice, pyrites, clay, hydropower, arable land

Turkey vs Turkiye vs Türkiye

The country's name has traditionally been Anglicized as Turkey, and that's how most of us have always known it. But the country's government has been pushing for adoption of the Turkish-language name, Türkiye. Since that doesn't always work well on Anglicized keyboards, you also often see it rendered as Turkiye. You can find more information on this here.

David Coleman / Photographer

David Coleman

I'm a freelance travel photographer based in Washington DC. Seven continents, up mountains, underwater, and a bunch of places in between. My images have appeared in numerous publications, and you can check out some of my gear reviews and tips here. More »