Ortakoy Mosque and Square

A Neo Baroque Mosque Of 1856 Beside The Water With A View Of The Bosphorus Bridge, Set In A Lively Square Of Baked Potato (Kumpir) Stalls, Cafes, Craft Vendors And A Sunday Market. One Of Istanbul'S Most Photographed Waterfront Corners, Busy At Sunset And On Weekends · Besiktas, Istanbul

Ortakoy Mosque stands right on the Bosphorus shore at Ortakoy, in the Besiktas district on the European side of Istanbul, about 6 km north-east of Taksim. It was built in 1856 in a neo-baroque style for Sultan Abdulmecid by members of the Balyan family of architects (confirm), and its slender minarets, tall windows and carved stone rise directly beside the water, with the long span of the Bosphorus Bridge behind. Inside, light from many windows plays across a pale hall with painted decoration and a high dome. The mosque is small, quiet and still used daily for prayer. The square around it is another matter: baked-potato (kumpir) stalls, cafes, craft vendors, street musicians and a weekend market fill the lanes, and a church and a synagogue stand a few steps from the mosque. Sunset and weekends bring dense crowds and queues for food. Come early or on a weekday for calm, dress modestly if you step in, and confirm hours before going.

Ortakoy Mosque and square, on the European shore of the Bosphorus at Ortakoy in Besiktas, beside the Bosphorus Bridge, about 6 km north-east of Taksim; coordinates approximate, Besiktas, Istanbul, Turkiye

The mosque is open to visitors outside the five daily prayers, roughly from morning to late afternoon or early evening (confirm), and it closes to sightseers at prayer times, with the longest pause around midday on Fridays. Prayer times shift through the year. The square, the kumpir stalls and the cafes keep long hours, many opening by late morning and staying open past midnight in summer, and the weekend market stalls usually set up from about 10:00 to evening (confirm). Sunset and Saturday and Sunday afternoons are the busiest periods. Confirm mosque times on the day.

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