Turkey for Architecture Lovers: From Byzantine Domes to Sinan

For architecture lovers, Turkey is a textbook in stone. Think of Byzantine domes in Istanbul, Seljuk portals in Konya, the mosques of Mimar Sinan and whole towns of timber and honey-colored stone. Each era built in its own way. Also, many of the best buildings stand within a short walk of each other. So plan by style, and give the great interiors time. Our Turkey architecture tour in 8 days follows those styles from Sinan’s Istanbul to Divriği.

Why is Turkey good for architecture lovers?

Turkey is good for architecture lovers because its buildings span from Roman engineering to modern museums. In Istanbul alone, you can stand under the dome of Hagia Sophia, walk down into the Basilica Cistern and pass under the Valens Aqueduct in a single morning. Then, across the country, the Seljuks, the Ottomans and village builders added their own answers to the same questions of light, water and stone.

Which Seljuk buildings should architecture lovers see?

Architecture lovers should see the portals and domes of the Seljuks, who built across Anatolia in the 13th century:

• The Karatay Madrasa, Konya: a school of 1251, whose dome glows with thousands of turquoise and black tiles arranged in stars around an open eye to the sky.
• The İnce Minareli Madrasa, Konya: a stone portal of 1265, carved like a page of calligraphy.
• The Sultanhanı Caravanserai: one of the largest medieval caravanserais in Turkey, with a marble gate carved like lace.
• The Great Mosque and Hospital of Divriği: a UNESCO site since 1985, and the Double Minaret Madrasa in Erzurum.

Where can you see the work of Mimar Sinan?

You can see the work of Mimar Sinan all over Istanbul and in Edirne. He was the chief architect of the Ottoman Empire from 1539 until his death in 1588. Also, he named three mosques as the stages of his career. First, the Şehzade Mosque of 1548 was his apprentice work. Then the Süleymaniye Mosque of 1557 crowns a hill of the old city. Finally, the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, finished in 1575, is his masterpiece. For tiles, do not miss the small Rüstem Pasha Mosque behind the Spice Bazaar. Our Mimar Sinan tour follows his buildings in Istanbul.

To climb all three steps of his career, our Mimar Sinan tour in 5 days adds the Selimiye in Edirne.

Which towns show traditional Turkish architecture?

Several towns show how ordinary people built:

• Safranbolu: white, timber-framed Ottoman houses with painted ceilings, a UNESCO site since 1994.
• Mardin: honey-colored stone houses, vaulted passages and terraces on a ridge.
• Odunpazarı, Eskişehir: houses painted turquoise and yellow, their upper floors jutting out over the lanes.
• Cappadocia: homes and churches carved into the rock, now cave hotels such as those of Kayakapı in Ürgüp.

Which palaces and modern buildings should you see?

For palaces, compare Topkapı Palace, a city of courtyards and pavilions, with Dolmabahçe Palace, whose long white façade faces the Bosphorus; read Topkapı or Dolmabahçe. For the modern city, Istanbul Modern fills a long, light building at Karaköy, with the old city’s domes across the water from its roof.

Would you like an architecture trip with a guide who reads the domes, the tiles and the stone for you? Tell us the eras you love, and we will plan the route.