Route

İlber Ortaylı Route

The historic-peninsula walk described by historian İlber Ortaylı in interviews and TV programs — starting at Eminönü and ending at Sultanahmet via Süleymaniye, Zeyrek, Balat, the city walls and Yedikule.

Stops
9
Distance
9 km
Duration
360 min
Difficulty
Moderate
İlber Ortaylı Route route
The line is approximate: stops are joined as the crow flies.

Stops

  1. 1
    Eminönü Square

    The starting point of the route. Ortaylı describes this as the city's trade hub throughout Byzantine and Ottoman times.

  2. ~4 min · 300 m
    2
    Rıza Paşa Slope

    Climbing up from Tahtakale, this steep slope is where Ottoman commercial life pulsed.

  3. ~6 min · 460 m
    3
    Süleymaniye Mosque

    According to Ortaylı, the center of Ottoman scholarship and intellectual life; the madrasa and complex fabric still stands.

  4. ~9 min · 700 m
    4
    Zeyrek Mosque

    A hilltop neighborhood overlooking the Golden Horn, where Byzantine (Pantokrator) and Ottoman traces intertwine.

  5. ~8 min · 610 m
    5
    Fatih Mosque

    The new city center Mehmed the Conqueror built after the conquest of Istanbul.

  6. ~13 min · 1.1 km
    6
    Balat

    A multicultural historic Golden Horn neighborhood where Byzantine and Ottoman heritage sit side by side.

  7. ~10 min · 810 m
    7
    Kariye Mosque / Kariye Museum

    Ortaylı calls the walk along the walls "the most beautiful walking route"; it leads here to Chora.

  8. ~40 min · 3.2 km
    8
    Bayezid Mosque

    A historic center of education and culture passed on the way back.

  9. ~12 min · 980 m
    9
    Sultanahmet Square (Hippodrome)

    The end of the route: according to Ortaylı, "the best Istanbul tour is completed in this area."

Times between stops are rough estimates from straight-line distance.

We drew the path. Leave the rest to Istanbul.