Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque)

Sultan Ahmet Camii

A free, shoes-off mosque lined with blue tiles

⚠ Closed to visitors at prayer times

Hours

Visitor entry roughly 08:30–19:00 (Sept–Oct 2026); closed to visitors during the five daily prayers and Friday noon prayer

Tickets

Free (voluntary donation box at the exit)

Address

South side of Sultanahmet Square opposite Hagia Sophia; the visitor entrance faces the Hippodrome

It faces Hagia Sophia across the square and has six minarets. It is still a working mosque with five daily prayers, so visitor entry pauses at each one and the queue starts moving again afterwards. Bag your shoes, step onto the carpet and the light from hundreds of windows pours down from the high domes. A long restoration finished in 2023, so it is bright and clean inside. Entry is free, which is why people who balk at Hagia Sophia's €25 come here to see a mosque interior properly.