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Mosque · Sultan Ahmet Mahallesi (At Meydanı No:7), Fatih, İstanbul

Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque)

Sultanahmet Camii · Sultan Ahmet Camii

Sultan Ahmed I's early 17th-century imperial mosque beside the Hippodrome in Sultanahmet, Fatih, Istanbul. It is an active place of worship that welcomes visitors outside prayer times.

Where it is

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41.0054, 28.9769

Why go

The Blue Mosque in Istanbul, officially the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Sultanahmet Camii), stands on At Meydanı beside the old Hippodrome in Fatih. It is not to be confused with the Blue Mosque in Yerevan, Armenia. Built for Sultan Ahmed I in the early 17th century, it is the centrepiece of a complex that also included a madrasa, a royal pavilion, an arasta, a bath, a fountain and a sebil, as described at the 2023 reopening ceremony reported by the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet). The mosque reopened for worship at the 2023 Ramadan feast after the most extensive restoration in its history, carried out by the General Directorate of Foundations from 2017. According to a Ministry of Culture and Tourism press release of 27 February 2026, the works in the mosque itself were complete, while conservation of the courtyard entrance doors and the Hünkâr Kasrı (the royal pavilion), and landscaping, were still continuing then, so some works may be visible around the courtyard. Visitor information is published by the Sultanahmet Camii Koruma ve İhya Derneği, the public-benefit association that looks after the mosque. UNESCO's description of the World Heritage property "Historic Areas of Istanbul" (inscribed 1985) names the 17th-century Blue Mosque as part of the skyline that carries the property's value; the mosque is not a separately inscribed site.

Getting there

The nearest public transport, according to the mosque association, is the Sultanahmet stop on the T1 Bağcılar–Kabataş tram, and the mosque has no car park. The association does not say which gate visitors should use; ask the staff at the courtyard when you arrive.

Accessibility

The association's rules do not allow strollers to be brought into the mosque; use a baby carrier or leave the stroller outside. It does not publish a step-free or wheelchair route, or say whether there are toilets, baby-changing facilities or shade in the courtyard, so ask before you go if you need any of these (visit information line 0850 346 30 34).

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City

Istanbul

Istanbul is the city the Bosphorus divides between Europe and Asia, with the Golden Horn cutting into its European shore. Its Historic Areas (the Sultanahmet archaeological park, the Süleymaniye quarter, Zeyrek and the Land Walls) are a UNESCO World Heritage property inscribed in 1985, and a visit sorts naturally into the old city, the European Bosphorus shore around Beyoğlu, and Üsküdar and Kadıköy across the water.

Near Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque)

Related guides

  • Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque and Süleymaniye: visiting Istanbul's working mosques

    Istanbul's three great imperial mosques are working places of worship with different rules: Hagia Sophia has a ticketed gallery visit, the Blue Mosque is free but closes to visitors around prayers and on Friday mornings, and Süleymaniye has no published visitor rules on the official pages we could find. This guide sets out those rules and what a guided walk between the three adds.

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