25/09/2026
🕌✨ The Blue Mosque & Hagia Sophia – Two Must-See Places in Istanbul 🇹🇷
If you’re visiting Sultanahmet, you can see two of Istanbul’s most famous landmarks almost directly opposite each other 😍📸
💙 The Blue Mosque – Sultan Ahmed Mosque
The Blue Mosque was built between 1609 and 1616 during the Ottoman Empire, on the orders of Sultan Ahmed I 👑
Inside you’ll find thousands of beautiful İznik tiles, huge domes, Arabic calligraphy and incredible details everywhere you look ✨🕌
It’s also famous for its six minarets, which made the mosque especially remarkable when it was built.
🎟️ Entrance to the Blue Mosque is FREE.
It is still an active mosque, so tourists may need to wait during prayer times. Dress respectfully, remove your shoes and women should cover their hair.
And when you walk outside… another incredible building is waiting right across the square 👀👇
⛪🕌 Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia is almost 1,500 years old. The building you see today was completed in 537 AD during the Byzantine Empire 🤯
Over its long history it has been:
⛪ A Christian church
🕌 An Ottoman mosque
🏛️ A museum
🕌 And today, a mosque again
Inside, you can see Christian mosaics and Islamic calligraphy in the same building, which makes Hagia Sophia incredibly unique ❤️✨
🎟️ Important difference:
💙 Blue Mosque ➜ FREE
🕌 Hagia Sophia ➜ tourists pay to visit the upper gallery
The paid entrance at Hagia Sophia is mainly for tourist sightseeing. The ground-floor prayer area is reserved for worshippers and Muslims entering to pray are not charged for worship.
📍 Sultanahmet, Fatih – Istanbul 🇹🇷
And while you’re here, you can easily visit:
💧 Basilica Cistern
🏛️ Topkapı Palace
🌳 Sultanahmet Square
🛍️ Grand Bazaar
🌶️ Spice Bazaar
So if you’re visiting Istanbul, give yourself a few hours in Sultanahmet. You can experience more than 1,500 years of history within just a few minutes of walking 😍🇹🇷