Eminönü, Fatih — Area Guide & Where to Stay

What are the main landmarks in Eminönü?

The list is exhausting. Hagia Sophia, Hagia Irene and Topkapı Palace stand at the peninsula's end, the Istanbul Archaeology Museums and the Museum of the Ancient Orient beside them, and the Walled Obelisk and the Great Palace Mosaic Museum a short way inland. Mosques carry the skyline.

The Şehzade Mosque and the Zeyrek Mosque hold ground away from the water, while the Beyazıt Tower marks the ridge and the Galata Tower answers it across the Golden Horn. Smaller collections fill the gaps: the Museum of Turkish Calligraphy Art, the Jewish Museum of Turkey and the Istanbul Railway Museum.

What is the history of Eminönü?

Pérama came first. Eminönü carried that name in an earlier age of the city, and the quarter has stood inside the land walls through every version of Istanbul since, from the Hodegon Monastery and the Amastrianum to Topkapı Palace. Administration proved less stable.

Eminönü held its own district municipality until 2008, when a law abolished it and attached the area to Fatih, and Sultanahmet followed into the same district in 2009. The walls outlasted the paperwork.

Where is Eminönü?

Eminönü sits on the historical peninsula at the confluence of the Golden Horn, the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara, facing Karaköy across the bridge.