City of Istanbul developed as a cultural, art and architecture centre through the centuries.
You can still feel the atmosphere of present and past times when you visit the palaces, bazaars and other public buildings.
One of the buildings that I want to tell you about is Dolmabahce Palace. When it was finished, the sultan and his family moved to live there from Topkapi Palace. Nowadays part of it serves as a museum.
Another interesting palace is Beylerbeyi Palace. Today its close proximity to the Bosphorus bridge, one of the main piers of which was constructed in the palace gardens, causes many problems.
Atif Efendi library was constructed in 1741 as a part of the vaqf (a system which maintained various public functions making use of the income from commercial buildings) of Atif Efendi - a vizier (minister) of Mahmud I, who had special interest in literature, poetry and calligraphy.
One of the most popular places is Kapalicarsi (covered bazaar).The first structures were the Cevahir and Sandal bedestens. Other hans followed in time with streets formed of rows of shops in-between. The streets were covered later, hence the name.
Besides the public buildings there are many different religious buildings.
One of the significant Catholic structures is St Antoine Cathedral. Its name comes from the Italian priests known as San Antonio.
Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Fener is one of the major orthodox churches in Istanbul. After moving several times from one place to another in 1602 it moved to the Ayios Yergios Monastery in Fener, where it is still located.
Other very interesting building St Stefan church. It is unique in the world because it is constructed completely of iron.
Ahrida synagogue and Zulfaris synagogue are two of the most significant synagogues in Istanbul. May be it will be interesting for you to learn that Ahrida synagogue derives its name from Ohrid. This is the largest and most splendid synagogue in Balat, with a capacity of 350 people. The present building of Zulfaris synagogue was probably reconstructed in 19th century on the foundations of the original one. It was restored in 2001 and now it serves as the “Jewish Museum of Turkey.”