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Mosques & Muslim traveller notes

Halal food finder

Most food is halal and the call to prayer shapes the day. Mosques welcome visitors between prayers; time your visits around the five daily prayers.

The great mosques

Sultanahmet

Sultanahmet Mosque (Blue Mosque)

Six minarets and İznik tiles. Free; tourist access pauses around each prayer and on Friday until early afternoon.

Sultanahmet

Hagia Sophia

Completed in 537 and a mosque again since 2020. Visitors pay and enter the upper gallery; the ground floor is for prayer.

Check current ticket price

Fatih

Süleymaniye Mosque

Mimar Sinan’s masterpiece on the third hill, with calm courtyards and Golden Horn views. Sinan’s tomb is by the wall.

Eyüpsultan

Eyüp Sultan Mosque

The city’s most revered shrine, beside the tomb of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari. Busy on Fridays and weekends; dress conservatively.

Eminönü

Rüstem Paşa Mosque

A small Sinan mosque above the market lanes, lined with some of the finest İznik tiles anywhere. Reach it by stairs from the street.

Ortaköy

Ortaköy Mosque

The Büyük Mecidiye Mosque sits on the water below the Bosphorus Bridge; lovely at dusk and after rain.

Eminönü

Yeni Cami (New Mosque)

The great mosque of Eminönü, beside the Spice Bazaar and ferry piers; an easy prayer stop on a market day.

Edirnekapı

Kariye Mosque (Chora)

Reopened in 2024 with its Byzantine mosaics on view to ticketed visitors upstairs; the lower level is for worship.

Check visiting hours

Üsküdar

Şakirin Mosque

A 2009 mosque in Üsküdar with an interior by Zeynep Fadıllıoğlu, one of very few by a woman designer.

Üsküdar

Grand Çamlıca Mosque

Türkiye’s largest mosque, on a hill above Üsküdar, with wide city views and a museum on site.

Etiquette & timing

Dress code

Cover shoulders and knees; women cover their hair. Scarves are usually available at tourist entrances.

Prayer times

Use the Diyanet prayer-time app or website. In November, the midday prayer falls around 12:00–12:15.

Friday prayers

Major mosques fill for Friday midday prayer and close to tourists until early afternoon. Arrive early to join.

Inside

Shoes off, phones silent, no flash, and do not walk in front of people praying.

Food & good to know

Halal by default

Meat in ordinary restaurants is generally halal, but certification varies. Look for a helal certificate if that matters to you.

Alcohol

Many restaurants and meyhanes serve alcohol. Lokantas and kebab houses marked içkisiz are alcohol-free.

Prayer spaces

Malls, airports and many motorway stops have a mescit (prayer room); ask for the mescit.

Ablutions

Every mosque has ablution taps (şadırvan) outside, and most have toilets nearby, sometimes for a small fee.

03 Where to stay

05 Eat Istanbul

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