Discover ancient cities, historic landmarks and cultural heritage across Türkiye.
Miletus was one of the great Ionian Greek cities of western Anatolia, a major maritime power and the birthplace of the Milesian school of philosophy. Today its extensive ruins near Balat in Aydın Province include one of Anatolia's largest ancient theatres.
Ishak Pasha Palace is a late Ottoman palace complex in Doğubayazıt, Ağrı Province, eastern Turkey. Built between the late 17th and late 18th centuries, it is known for its stone architecture, which combines Ottoman, Seljuk, and Persian elements.
Zeugma was a Hellenistic and Roman city on the Euphrates in Gaziantep Province, important for its river crossing and Roman garrison. Its excavated houses produced celebrated mosaics, many now shown in the Zeugma Mosaic Museum in Gaziantep.
Karatepe is an 8th-century BC Hittite fortress above the Ceyhan River in Osmaniye Province, whose Phoenician–Luwian bilingual inscriptions unlocked the reading of Anatolian hieroglyphs.
Kültepe, the ancient city of Kanesh, is a Bronze Age mound and lower-city site northeast of Kayseri in central Türkiye. Its Assyrian merchants left behind thousands of cuneiform tablets, the earliest written records discovered in Anatolia.
Arslantepe is a deep archaeological mound on the Malatya plain in eastern Türkiye, where a Late Chalcolithic palace documents the rise of a centralised state and later Neo-Hittite rulers carved lions for its gates. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2021.
Çatalhöyük is a Neolithic and Chalcolithic settlement mound in the Konya Plain whose tightly packed mudbrick houses, painted walls and floor burials changed how archaeologists understand early farming communities. This article explains what survives at the site, how it was excavated and what a visitor can realistically expect to see.
In Çorum Province, Alacahöyük preserves a long settlement sequence, elite Early Bronze Age burials and a monumental Hittite gate with carved reliefs.
Laodicea is a Hellenistic and Roman city near Denizli in Türkiye, known for its theatre, stadium and early Christian remains. It was a wealthy commercial centre and one of the Seven Churches of Asia.
Kibyra is an ancient city on a plateau above Gölhisar in Burdur Province, once the leading city of the Kibyratis. Its theatre, odeon with a Medusa mosaic, and stadium survive in unusual detail.
Didyma is an ancient Greek sanctuary and oracle of Apollo in Aydın Province, Türkiye, whose vast Temple of Apollo is one of the largest ever built in the Greek world. Its surviving platform, columns, reliefs and Sacred Way make it a major archaeological site on the coast near Miletus.
Sardis was the Iron Age capital of the Lydian Kingdom in western Anatolia and later a major Roman and Byzantine city. Its surviving monuments include the Temple of Artemis, a vast bath-gymnasium complex and one of the largest ancient synagogues ever found.
Priene is a planned ancient Greek city on the slopes of Mount Mycale in Aydın Province, Türkiye, whose grid streets, theatre and Temple of Athena Polias still trace a Hellenistic urban layout.
Euromos is an ancient Carian city in Muğla Province, Türkiye, whose standing Temple of Zeus Lepsynos is among the best-preserved Roman-period temples in the country. Its theatre, agora, bath and city walls survive on a low hill above the Milas plain.
Labranda is an ancient Carian sanctuary of Zeus Labraundos in the hills north-east of Milas, Muğla Province, whose temples, banqueting halls and processional way were largely built in the 4th century BC under the Hekatomnid dynasty.
The Chora Church in Istanbul is a Byzantine monument whose 14th-century mosaics and frescoes are among the finest surviving examples of late Byzantine art, preserved inside a building that later served as a mosque.
The Blue Mosque, known formally as the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, is an early 17th-century Ottoman mosque in Istanbul famous for its hand-painted blue Iznik tiles and six minarets.
Süleymaniye Mosque is the great Ottoman imperial mosque on Istanbul's Third Hill, built for Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent between 1550 and 1557 to the design of the chief architect Mimar Sinan. It anchors a large charitable complex and forms part of the UNESCO-listed Historic Areas of Istanbul.
Raised by the Knights Hospitaller above ancient Halicarnassus, Bodrum Castle is both a medieval fortress and the home of one of the world's leading museums of underwater archaeology.
Rumeli Hisarı is a 15th-century Ottoman fortress on the European shore of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, built by Sultan Mehmed II in 1452 to control the strait before the conquest of Constantinople. It survives today as a monumental open-air museum.
Anadolu Hisarı is an Ottoman fortress built by Sultan Bayezid I in 1393–1394 on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, commanding the narrowest stretch of the strait. Long described as the oldest surviving Ottoman building in the city, it was later reinforced by Mehmed II in preparation for the conquest of Constantinople.
Topkapı Palace on Istanbul's Seraglio Point served as the residence and administrative heart of the Ottoman sultans for nearly four centuries, and today it is a museum displaying its courtyards, opulent interiors and the imperial collections of the Sacred Relics.
Dolmabahçe Palace is the 19th-century Ottoman palace on the European shore of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, built under Sultan Abdülmecid I as the empire's main administrative centre. It was the sultans' residence in the empire's final decades and the place where Mustafa Kemal Atatürk died in 1938.
Hagia Sophia in Istanbul is a monumental religious building begun under the Byzantine emperor Justinian I in 537 CE, later converted into an Ottoman mosque and today serving again as a mosque and UNESCO-listed monument.
Side is an ancient Pamphylian port city on a peninsula in Antalya Province, Türkiye, known for its well-preserved Roman theatre, the temples of Apollo and Athena, and a museum housed in Roman baths. It flourished under Hellenistic and Roman rule and was abandoned by the 10th century, leaving extensive ruins that visitors can explore today.
Alanya Castle is a medieval fortress on a rocky Mediterranean promontory in Antalya Province, Türkiye, whose surviving defences were largely built under the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum in the 13th century. Its walls, inner citadel, Red Tower and vaulted shipyard form one of the most complete Seljuk military and maritime complexes in Anatolia.
Termessos is an ancient Pisidian city set high in the Taurus Mountains of Antalya Province, Türkiye. Its abandoned ruins, including a theatre, gymnasium, cisterns and a sprawling necropolis, form one of the most complete archaeological landscapes of the Pisidian region.
Perge is a Graeco-Roman city in the Pamphylian plain east of Antalya, Türkiye, whose surviving urban plan includes two colonnaded streets with central water channels, a hillside Roman theatre and one of Anatolia's best-preserved stadiums.
Xanthos was a leading city of Lycia and the seat of the Lycian League, on the frontier between the Antalya and Muğla provinces of Türkiye. Its surviving theatre, agora and tomb monuments, together with the nearby sanctuary of Letoon, form a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Sagalassos was a major Pisidian city in the Taurus Mountains of Burdur Province, Türkiye. Its Roman theatre, bath complex and monumental fountain house make it one of the more fully understood ancient cities in the region.
Phaselis is an ancient Greek and Roman harbour city on a low peninsula near Kemer in Antalya Province, known for its three harbours, a long paved main street and a triple-arched gate built in honour of the emperor Hadrian.
Patara is an ancient Lycian city in Antalya Province, Türkiye, that served as the meeting place of the Lycian League and preserves a Roman theatre, triumphal arch, bath complexes and an assembly hall beside a long sandy beach.
Letoon is the ancient Lycian sanctuary of Leto near Xanthos in Muğla Province, home to three temples and the trilingual inscription that helped decipher the Lycian language.
Anemurium is an ancient city on a windswept promontory at Cape Anamur, the southernmost point of Anatolia, in Mersin Province. Its Roman and Byzantine ruins — theatre, baths, walls and a vast necropolis — make it one of the most substantial archaeological sites on Turkey's Mediterranean coast.
Alahan Monastery is a 5th-century early Christian complex in the Taurus Mountains of Mersin Province, Türkiye, whose basilicas, baptistery, colonnade and rock-cut tombs preserve the plan of a late antique monastery.
Olympos is an ancient Lycian city in Antalya Province, Türkiye, whose ruins stand on both banks of a wooded river valley. Once a member of the Lycian League and later a Roman harbour town, it is best known for its theatre, baths and Lycian sarcophagi, and for the naturally burning Chimaera flames on the mountain above.
Göreme Open Air Museum is a rock-cut Byzantine monastic complex in the Göreme valley of Cappadocia, Nevşehir Province, whose churches preserve fresco cycles painted between the 10th and 13th centuries. It forms part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia.
Kaymaklı Underground City is a multi-level subterranean complex in Nevşehir Province, Cappadocia, used as a refuge by early Christian communities. It features tunnels, stone doors, storage rooms, and churches carved into volcanic tuff.
Derinkuyu Underground City is a multi-level rock-cut settlement beneath the town of Derinkuyu in Nevşehir Province, the deepest known underground city in Cappadocia and one of Anatolia's most complete examples of subterranean architecture.
Hattusa was the capital of the Hittite Empire, located near Boğazkale in Çorum Province. Its surviving walls, gates, temples and cuneiform archives make it one of the most important Bronze Age archaeological sites in Anatolia.
Aphrodisias is an ancient city in Aydın Province, Türkiye, built around a sanctuary of Aphrodite and celebrated for its marble sculpture and remarkably intact public buildings. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2017.
Hierapolis is an ancient city in Denizli Province, Türkiye, built beside the hot springs and travertine terraces of Pamukkale. Its Roman theatre, vast necropolis, baths and the sanctuary of Apollo make it one of the most extensively preserved Greco-Roman cities in Anatolia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Troy is the excavated mound of Hisarlık in Çanakkale Province, Türkiye, inhabited from the Early Bronze Age to the Roman era and linked with the Ilion of Homer's Iliad. Its nine settlement layers and surviving Bronze Age fortifications make it one of the most important stratified sites in the eastern Mediterranean.
Mount Nemrut in Adıyaman Province is the summit hierothesion of King Antiochus I of Commagene, where colossal statues of gods and a royal ruler stand on terraces above an artificial stone tumulus. The site is a UNESCO World Heritage property whose Greek inscriptions and reliefs record a Hellenistic kingdom of the first century BC.
Pergamon was the Hellenistic capital of the Attalid dynasty in western Türkiye, built around a steep acropolis above the modern town of Bergama. Its Great Altar, theatre and Sanctuary of Asclepius make it one of the most important archaeological sites in Anatolia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
An ancient city near Antalya best known for its large Roman theatre and other surviving structures.
A historic monastery built against a steep cliff in the forested mountains of Trabzon Province.
A medieval archaeological city near the Turkish-Armenian border, with churches, fortifications and monumental stone buildings.
A major Neolithic archaeological site near Şanlıurfa, known for its monumental stone enclosures and carved T-shaped pillars.
One of the best-preserved ancient cities in the Aegean, known for its monumental streets, library, theatre and Roman-era remains.
Kaunos is an ancient Carian city on the Dalyan River in Muğla Province, known for its temple-style rock-cut tombs and the extensive ruins of a harbour that silted up centuries ago.
The ancient Greek city of Assos in Çanakkale, Türkiye, is defined by its sixth-century BC Temple of Athena, kilometres of surviving walls and a small Aegean harbour. Here is how the site is arranged and what a visit involves.
Karahan Tepe is an early Neolithic archaeological site near Şanlıurfa, known for carved limestone pillars and monumental communal structures.
Mor Gabriel Monastery is a working Syriac Orthodox monastery on the Tur Abdin plateau in Mardin Province, southeastern Turkey, founded in 397 AD and still home to monks and nuns. It is one of the oldest monastic communities in the world that remains in continuous use.
Deyrulzafaran, also called Mor Hananyo, is a working Syriac Orthodox monastery near Mardin that was built over a much older pagan sun temple and long served as the seat of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate.
Akdamar Island is the largest island in Lake Van, eastern Turkey, and holds the 10th-century Armenian Cathedral of the Holy Cross, whose outer walls are covered in carved biblical reliefs. It is reached by boat from a pier near Gevaş and is usually visited as a day trip from Van.
Yazılıkaya is an open-air Hittite rock sanctuary cut into limestone near the ancient capital of Hattusa, decorated with reliefs of gods and kings and now part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Myra is an ancient Lycian city in the Demre district of Antalya, whose cliff-carved rock tombs and large Roman theatre stand within the modern town itself.
St. Nicholas Church in Demre, Antalya Province, is a Byzantine basilica built over the tomb of St. Nicholas of Myra, the bishop whose legends inspired Santa Claus. Visitors come for its frescoes, mosaic floor and the saint's empty sarcophagus.
Ihlara Valley is a 14-kilometre canyon in Aksaray Province cut by the Melendiz River, lined with Byzantine rock-cut churches and frescoes. This guide covers its geology, the churches inside it, the walking route and the best time to visit.