Turkey
15 Best Religious Sites in Turkey
The temples, churches and sacred sites travelers rate highest across Turkey, with what makes each worth the trip.
Ranked by traveler review volume across 725 tracked places in Turkey. Updated monthly.
Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque
Religious site · IstanbulFree entryHagia Sophia Grand Mosque, originally built as a Christian cathedral in the 6th century, is a masterpiece of Byzantine architecture that has served as a mosque, museum, and again a mosque.
Read our full guide →The Blue Mosque
Religious site · IstanbulFree entryThe Blue Mosque, officially the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, is one of Istanbul's most iconic landmarks.
Read our full guide →Hagia Sophia
Religious site · IstanbulHagia Sophia is an active mosque and one of Istanbul's central architectural and historical monuments.
Read our full guide →Little Hagia Sophia
Religious site · IstanbulLittle Hagia Sophia is an active mosque in Istanbul's Fatih district, close to the Marmara Sea and south of the former Hippodrome.
Read our full guide →Blue Mosque, Istanbul
Religious site · IstanbulThe Blue Mosque, officially Sultan Ahmed Mosque, is a masterpiece of Ottoman architecture built in the early 17th century.
Read our full guide →Süleymaniye Mosque
Religious site · IstanbulSüleymaniye Mosque, designed by the legendary architect Mimar Sinan, dominates Istanbul's skyline from its perch on the Third Hill.
Read our full guide →New Mosque, Istanbul
Religious site · IstanbulThe New Mosque, or Yeni Cami, is a prominent landmark at the southern end of the Galata Bridge.
Read our full guide →The Chora
Religious site · IstanbulThe Chora Church, also known as the Kariye Museum, is a treasure of Byzantine art in Istanbul.
Read our full guide →Rustem Pasha Mosque
Religious site · IstanbulFree entryThe Rüstem Pasha Mosque is one of Istanbul's hidden gems, a small but exquisite 16th-century mosque famous for being almost entirely covered, inside and out, in stunning İznik tiles.
Read our full guide →St. John's Cathedral (İzmir)
Religious site · IzmirSt. John's Cathedral, built in the 19th century, stands as the main Roman Catholic church in İzmir and the seat of the Archdiocese of İzmir.
Read our full guide →Bayezid I Mosque
Religious site · BursaBayezid I Mosque, commissioned by the fourth Ottoman sultan in the late 14th century, is a landmark of early Ottoman imperial architecture.
Read our full guide →Grand Mosque of Bursa
Religious site · BursaThe Grand Mosque of Bursa, built in the late 14th century, is a masterpiece of Seljuk architecture.
Read our full guide →Hacı Bayram Mosque
Religious site · AnkaraHacı Bayram Mosque is a revered religious site that seamlessly merges Ottoman and Roman history.
Read our full guide →Kocatepe Mosque
Religious site · AnkaraKocatepe Mosque is the largest mosque in Ankara, Turkey, built between 1967 and 1987 in the Kocatepe quarter of Kızılay.
Read our full guide →Gaziantep Synagogue
Religious site · GaziantepGaziantep Synagogue, located in the city's old quarter, is a meticulously restored Jewish house of worship dating back to the 19th century.
Read our full guide →
Good to know
What is the best-known of the temples, churches and sacred sites in Turkey?
Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque in Istanbul is the most reviewed, with 135,218 traveler reviews and a 4.8 rating. That makes it the safe choice if you are only fitting in one.
Which of Turkey's temples, churches and sacred sites is worth going out of your way for?
Bayezid I Mosque in Bursa rates highest at 4.8 out of 5 across 1,687 reviews. Smaller crowds than the headline entry usually explain the gap.
Which city in Turkey has the most temples, churches and sacred sites?
Istanbul, with 9 on this list, ahead of Bursa on 2. The list spans 5 cities in total, capped at three per city so one big city cannot crowd out the rest of the country.
Are any of these temples, churches and sacred sites free to visit?
Yes, 3: Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque, The Blue Mosque, Rustem Pasha Mosque. That is based on each place's own visiting information, not an assumption about the category.
How is this list of temples, churches and sacred sites ranked?
By how many travelers reviewed each place, filtered to those rated well enough to be worth your time, drawn from 725 tracked places in Turkey. No one pays to appear on it, and the order is refreshed monthly as new reviews land.
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