Istanbul walking tours, Turkish building guides, City architectural walks Turkey, Architects visits

Istanbul Architecture Tours

Turkish Architecture Guides – exclusive building walks in Turkey tailor made for visiting groups.

post updated 1 December 2024

Contact e-architect for your walking guide in Turkey: [email protected]

Istanbul Architecture Tour: Exclusive Guided Walks

Our Istanbul guided tours are all tailored to suit each booking, we do not allow for bookings to be joined. Our guided tours in western Turkey are exclusive to each client.

Istanbul Modern by Renzo Piano:
Istanbul Modern
photo : Cemal Emden

Istanbul Architecture Walking Tours

Istanbul Architecture – Introduction

Istanbul is located in the northwest of the country, located between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. It is the largest city in Turkey, forming the country’s economic, cultural, and historical heart. It sits between Europe and Asia, a cultural and political nexus.

Besiktas Fish Market Istanbul building:
Besiktas Fish Market Istanbul Architecture Tours
photograph : Ozlem Avcioglu, Ozan Ertug, Alp Eren

Naturallythe most celebrated building in the city is Hagia Sophia, dating from 537 AD. But the city also has good contemporary architecture – with significant recent buildings being Kanyon, LOFT Gardens and the santralistanbul Art Museum. These buildings are all possible to visit on our Istanbul Architectural Tours.

Famous architects with buildings in this majorTurkish city include EAA-Emre Arolat Architects and Tabanlioglu Architects. Other key architects with work in the city include RTA-Office / Dome Partners, REX Architecture, Dinkoff Architects & Engineers Inc., RMJM, Swanke Hayden Connell Architects, The Jerde Partnership, Nevzat Sayn (NSMH) and Tuncer Cakmakli Architects.

Sishane Park in Istanbul design by SANAL arc:
Sishane Park Istanbul architecture tours
photo : olivve.com

The contemporary arts museum, close to the center of the city at a very nice spot, is a building transformed from a large-scale warehouse. With the dissolving of the santralistanbul collection it is again the biggest contemporary arts museum – although surprisingly weak when you think of a city like Istanbul, but it is a good project and a pleasant place to be. Nevzat Sayin’s project “the seed” is also a place to see, in much smaller scale than the other examples, it is a building buried in rocks and between the roots of the old trees, hidden on the Bosphorus shore.

Istanbul Architecture Designs – chronological list – latest buildings on e-architect

Some key architectural sights to visit in this major Turkish city:

Suleymaniye Mosque, ornate 16th-century mosque with gardens, plus a terrace with views over the Golden Horn:
Suleymaniye Mosque

Suleymaniye Mosque Istanbul courtyard
Suleymaniye Mosque Istanbul courtyard

Suleymaniye Mosque Istanbul courtyard Turkey

Suleymaniye Mosque Istanbul interior

Tophane-i Amire Sanjak Tower:
Tophane-i Amire Sanjak Tower

Istanbul Museum of Painting and Sculpture:
Istanbul Museum of Painting and Sculpture

Galata Tower, Beyoğlu district. This building was built as a watchtower at the highest point of the mostly demolished Walls of Galata:
Galata Tower, Beyoğlu Galata Tower Istanbul at night

The Blue Mosque in Istanbul, officially the ‘Sultan Ahmed Mosque’, is an Ottoman-era historical imperial mosque located in Istanbul, Turkey. It was constructed between 1609 and 1617 during the rule of Ahmed I and remains a functioning mosque today:
Blue Mosque in Istanbul

Blue Mosque Istanbul colonnade

The Spice Bazaar (Turkish: Mısır Çarşısı, meaning “Egyptian Bazaar”) in, Eminönü, is one of the largest bazaars in the city:
Spice Bazaar Istanbul

Istanbul University grand entry arches:
Istanbul University grand entry arches

Hagia Sophia building exterior form the south:
Hagia Sophia Istanbul building

Hagia Sophia building interior:
Hagia Sophia building interior

Hagia Sophia building interior

Hagia Sophia building interior

Hagia Sophia building interior

Hagia Sophia building interior

Hagia Sophia fresco:
Hagia Sophia fresco

Hagia Sophia columns:
Hagia Sophia columns

Grand Bazaar:
Grand Bazaar market stores

Nuruosmaniye Mosque, architecturally-significant Ottoman mosque completed in 1755, featuring a huge dome & many windows:
Nuruosmaniye Mosque Istanbul

Istanbul Walking Tours

Istanbul Architectural Design Tours can focus on contemporary Turkish architecture or be structured around specific architectural interests of your group, for example interiors or office buildings. Our architecture guides can show your group the historic architecture or just new buildings, or a mixture of both.

Istanbul Architecture

Istanbul Architectural Walking Tours

Contact Isabelle Lomholt to arrange your Turkish architectural tour at isabelle(at)e-architect.com or mob.

Payments must be made in full prior to the architectural tour.

Esas Aeropark Building in Istanbul design by Tabanlioglu Architects, Turkey:
Esas Aeropark Building - Istanbul architecture tours
photograph : Murat Germen

Yesil Vadi Mosque building:
Yesil Vadi Mosque Istanbul building
photograph : Engin Gercek

With itineraries that include housing, meals, and entertainment all packaged into one, MTT Cruises offers a fantastic deal.

Architecture Tour References – see 18 Mar 2013 + 6 Nov 2012

Architecture Tours

e-architect also organise architecture walking tours in other Asian & European cities such as Athens, Jerusalem and New Delhi.

Architecture Walking Tours

Beyazit Public Library building design by Tabanlioglu Architects
Beyazit Public Library
picture : Emre Dorter
Public Library Building in Istanbul

Building Tours

European Building Tours by e-architect – Selection

London Architecture Walking Tours

Copenhagen Walking Tours

Rome Architectural Walking Tour

Istanbul Buildings

Istanbul Painting and Sculpture Museum, Karaköy Harbor building design by EAA Emre Arolat:
Istanbul Painting and Sculpture Museum Karaköy Harbor
photos : Thomas Mayer, Cemal Emden, Engin Gerçek and EAA Emre Arolat
Istanbul Painting and Sculpture Museum
In 2009 Entrepot Number 5 in the Karaköy Harbor was allocated to Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University for the purpose of transforming it into the Istanbul Painting and Sculpture Museum. Thus was the way cleared for the public use of an area which, although located on an important site in the city center, had almost no social permeability, and for the building of an original, high-quality museum to house thousands of valuable works including important pieces of late Ottoman to modern Turkish painting.

Maslak building design by HPP Architekten:
Maslak Square Istanbul architecture tours
photo : Cemal Emden
Maslak Square, Istanbul Building
Just a few years after completing the 26-storey, internationally award-winning AND Tower in Istanbul, HPP Architects is now delivering the city a new landmark. The building ensemble for the client Kapital Real Estate Development comprises two crystalline volumes of differing heights which will stand in the central business district of Maslak, making a previously inaccessible commercial site available for public use again.

Apple Bagdat Caddesi building design by the celebrated Foster + Partners, an architects office based in London, England:
Apple Bagdat Caddesi Istanbul building by Foster + Partners in Turkey
photograph © Apple
Apple Bagdat Caddesi Istanbul Building
One of the most iconic and lively shopping destinations in Istanbul, the tree-lined avenue attracts visitors from all over the world and is likened to Paris’ Champs-Élysées. The standalone building is set back from the busy shopping street, creating a generous tree-lined square – a public plaza for the celebration of urban life.

Arter Contemporary Art Museum building design by the award-winning British architects office Grimshaw:
Arter Contemporary Art Museum Istanbul architecture tours
photograph : Quintin Lake
Arter Contemporary Art Museum
A subsidiary of Turkey’s philanthropic Vehbi Koç Foundation, Arter Contemporary Art Museum is a vibrant cultural hub that brings together artists and audiences to celebrate contemporary art in all its forms and disciplines. Conceived as a dynamic multi-layered, interdisciplinary public building for showcasing artistic works, it offers a rich cultural programme to stimulate and challenge its audience.

Kanyon Istanbul
Design: The Jerde Partnership with Tabanlioglu Architects

Zorlu Center Istanbul
Design: Tabanlioglu Architects with EAA

Macka Hotel Istanbul
Design: EAA-Emre Arolat Architects

LOFT Gardens Istanbul

Turkish Architecture

Turkish Architecture

Turkish Architects

Greek Architecture

Istanbul Architecture

Istanbul Apartments

Istanbul International Financial Center

Istanbul Office Buildings

Istanbul Telecommunications Tower

Comments / photos for the Istanbul Building Tours – Turkish Architecture Guides by e-architect tailored to groups’ specific visit requirements page welcome