Kuzguncuk

One of the icons of the city is also called the Leander's Tower, on a Bosphorus islet off Salacak. The local myth ascribes its name to a princess, whose father wanted to protect her in this offshore tower from a prophecy that she would be killed by a snakebite on her birthday, but the snake found its way inside a basket of fruits — ironically a birthday present from her father — and you've probably already guessed the rest of the story. In actual timeline, it served as a defensive structure (there was a wall connecting it to the Asian mainland, and the Byzantines used to stretch a chain from here to the European mainland across the mouth of the Bosphorus to shut it to adversary shipping in times of conflict, but they didn't during the final Ottoman siege in 1453), as a customs and quarantine station, as a lighthouse, as a warehouse of various sorts of goods, and as a high-end restaurant before the last restoration finished in 2023 dedicated it as a museum. There is a light show viewable from the mainland every day at 21:00.

A historic 3-storey house, easily distinguishable among the modern apartment buildings thanks to its brightly coloured and gracefully decorated exterior. This is where the future founder of the Turkish Republic, Kemal Atatürk rented in 1919 while staying in Istanbul before setting sail to Samsun on the Black Sea coast to start the Turkish War of Independence. Hosts Atatürk-related paraphernalia and photos.

Completed in 1851, this houses a mantle said to have been worn by the prophet Muhammad. The mantle is displayed during Ramadan.

On top of a hill overlooking the Golden Horn, this is a magnificent mosque built by Sinan in the 1550s. It was centrepiece of a large külliye, a religious complex which included madrasas, a public kitchen and a hospital.. The small cemetery east has the mausoleums of Suleiman the Magnificent and of his wife Hurrem Sultan or Roxelana.

About 15 minutes walking north of Beylerbeyi lies the historical fishing village Çengelköy. Its long history is attested by an 800-year-old sycamore tree on one of the two main terraced squares, and the Byzantine Aya Yorgi church. The restaurants and piers of Çengelköy offer some of the best panoramas along the Bosphorus, including a view on the old city under the first bridge. The neighborhood was popular amongst TV directors during the 1970s and it has become a (possibly the most) popular location to have lunch or dinner on the eastern side of Istanbul. Many historic mansions have been restored and multiple boutique chocolatiers were opened. Most restaurants in Çengelköy don't offer alcoholic beverages. Exceptions include the restaurant at the main pier (Iskele), and Tapasuma, the restaurant of hotel 'Sumahan on the Water', located in a former Ottoman Raki distillery. You can get there by taking bus 15 or 15F from Üsküdar, it is just a few stops further than Beylerbeyi. Going to Çengelköy by car is not advised; traffic can be very intense on the narrow road along this side of the Bosphorus.

Yeşilköy is home to a significant Syriac community. Their church was inaugurated in 2023. It is the first church built since the foundation of the Republic of Turkey. Its architecture is inspired by Syriac churches and monasteries in Mardin Province, the Syriac homeland in southeastern Turkey.

If you are already in the area, it's worth considering to visit this waterside neo-Baroque manor, built in the 19th century for the countryside and hunting excursions of the Ottoman dynasty. The area, where the Göksu River flows into the Bosphorus, was known as "the Sweet Waters of Asia" by the pioneer European travellers of the epoch (as opposed to "the Sweet Waters of Europe", another contemporary elite recreational area on the other side of the city, where the Kağıthane and Alibeyköy Rivers empty into the Golden Horn).

The Golden Gate was the ceremonial entrance through the Theodosian city walls. After the Ottomans captured the city in 1453, Mehmed II needed a stronghold for his treasures and documents. The gate was therefore bricked up and the walls reinforced into a fortress, with valuables stored in its seven towers, hence yedi kule. In the following century the treasury moved to Topkapi Palace and the fort became a prison for high-level detainees - Osman II was strangled here in 1622. It remained in use until 1837, whereupon the Golden Gate was re-opened.

A neighbourhood east of Şişli known for its Art Nouveau apartment buildings, the ground floors of many of which are upmarket restaurants, cafes, pubs, and garment stores lining the sidewalks. Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk, well-known Turkish novelist, is a lifelong resident of the neighbourhood which formed the background of several of his novels.

Built circa 1200 as the Eastern Orthodox Theotokos Kyriotissa Church, after the Ottoman conquest it was handed over to the Qalandari, a Sufi sect. In the mid-18th century it was converted to a Sunni mosque, and its mosaics were plastered over. The original appearance was restored in the 1970s.

It was built by the Genoese in the 14th century on the city walls of Galata, marking the highest point of their territory. Ride an elevator and take two flights of stairs to the top, then walk the parapet for a 360°-view of Istanbul, including the entire Sultanahmet peninsula: crowned by Topkapı Palace, the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia. A beautiful spot worthy of a lot of pictures.

The "Polish village" was founded in 1842 by Polish settlers in the wake of the failed uprising against Russian Imperial rule, and reinforced by more settlers after every subsequent civil upheaval until Poland's independence in 1918. Most then returned, but several stayed on, adopting Turkish citizenship but maintaining their Polish language and culture. The village has houses in traditional Polish style, a 1914 little Catholic chapel, and the Church of Matka Boska Częstochowska. It's set in woodland (a nature park) and is a popular day-trip from the city. There's four restaurants and half a dozen small hotels, plus more of each in nearby Beykoz.

A nice, organized museum with contemporary installations. It may be seen as overpriced given its small size. It also has a simple cafe.

Sokollu Mehmet Pasha was the grand vizier and de facto ruler of the Ottoman Empire during its 16th century golden age. He commissioned this mosque, one of three in the city to bear his name, but the sloping site was a challenge. He hired the best, Mimar Sinan, who completed it in 979 AH / 1571 AD, with the slope resolved by a fronting courtyard above shops and a medrese. The interior has outstanding İznik blue tiles, and three fragments of the Black Stone (Hajar al-Aswad) of the Kaaba: above the main entrance, minbar and mihrab.

The avenue has little in common with Baghdad, except it was the beginning of the Ottoman-era route to that city followed by many, including Ottoman sultan Murat IV during his march upon Persia, after which he captured Baghdad. In fact, with its sidewalk cafés and Western restaurants, Bağdat Caddesi is usually considered as one of Istanbul's most western-flavoured streets, ironically located in Asia. This street is not completely pedestrianized unlike Istiklal Street, which serves a similar function on the European Side, but its broad sidewalks with tree shade offer a pleasant walk. The restaurants and cafés on the avenue are mainly upscale, but there are also some quite affordable ones scattered around occasionally. Shopping opportunities also abound. From Kadıköy, take the Bostancı-bound dolmuşes (from just south of the ferries) or the public bus #4 (its stop is near the one for the dolmuş, but separate).

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.

Built as the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus around 530 AD, the same time as Hagia Sophia, but their styles differ. Transformed into a mosque in the early 1500s, it's beautifully decorated, with fine marble details, and has a pleasanter atmosphere than the larger busy mosques. The adjoining madrasa houses craft shops.

A Byzantine monastery complex carved into a cliff, set in a lush valley. The site is free, but May-Sept there's a 32 TL toll for cars on the access roads. There's a picnic area, pity about all the trash, and a couple of restaurants nearby.

An attractive stairway mixing the Neo-Baroque and early Art Nouveau styles, climbing up from Bankalar St towards the Galata Tower. It was built in the 1870s by Abraham Salomon Camondo, who belonged to a prominent Ottoman-Venetian Jewish family of financiers and philanthropists.

This is a triple structure: the church of the Monastery of Pantokrator built 1118, then a public church circa 1136 plus a chapel that served as a royal mausoleum. It became a mosque and medresse in Ottoman times, but without massive alteration so it's a prime example of middle-Byzantine architecture. It's nowadays again a mosque, photogenic by day or dusk but the area should be avoided at night.