Audio GuideBeyazit Square
Beyazıt Meydanı
Large public square featuring the main gate to Istanbul University, a big mosque & street vendors.
Tourist Attraction
Istanbul, Türkiye
In the heart of Istanbul’s historic peninsula lies Beyazıt Square, where the pulse of the city has echoed for centuries. Long before the calls to prayer or tram bells, this open space marked the center of Byzantine life as the Forum of Theodosius. Constructed in the late fourth century, it once featured triumphal arches and fountains, fragments of which can still be found scattered throughout the area.
After the Ottoman conquest in the mid-fifteenth century, a palace known as the Old Saray took shape here, later giving way to vibrant public life. In the early sixteenth century, Sultan Bayezid the Second ordered the creation of a grand complex including a mosque, school, soup kitchen, and bathhouse, known as the Beyazıt Külliyesi. The mosque’s central dome, flanked by half-domes, carries echoes of the grand Hagia Sophia. Its surrounding buildings served spiritual, educational, and social needs, drawing crowds from nearby busy neighborhoods and the sprawling Grand Bazaar.
As you move through the square, the monumental entrance to Istanbul University rises before you, a Neo-Renaissance creation by French architect Bourgeois from the late nineteenth century, with the slender Beyazıt Tower standing behind as a silent sentinel.
For centuries, Beyazıt Square has been a stage for public celebration and everyday life. In Ottoman times, it hosted royal wedding displays and lively gatherings with musicians, fortune tellers, and acrobats. Over the years, the square has witnessed many changes—urban redesigns inspired by European trends, restoration projects during the Republican era, and, more recently, a full revitalization opened to the public in twenty twenty-two with new terraces, lights, and green spaces.
Historical layers and modern life blend here, where political gatherings, festivals, and daily routines continue. Today, Beyazıt Square stands not just as a place to pause and soak in Istanbul’s energy, but as a vibrant reflection of the city’s cultural story.
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