There are 22 sites from Türkiye on Uneco's World Heritage list. The four areas have been protected as Historic Areas of Istanbul on the UNESCO list since 1985.
SULTAN AHMET URBAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL AREA
The Sultanahmet World Heritage Site covers two different areas, the Sur-i Sultani Region and the Sultanahmet Region, on the Sarayburnu Hills. The walls of this area have remained intact thanks to repairs from Roman times until today. This area, which gained importance during the Byzantine period, became the center of the states with the presence of the Imperial Palace and the Hagia Sophia Mosque.
The Million Monument located on Divanyolu is considered the starting point of the road from Istanbul to Rome. During the Byzantine period, this area became the focus of the leisure life of people with political and religious will. The Grand Palace is both the private living space of the ruler and his family, as well as the administrative center of the state. Hagia Sophia Mosque is a symbol of religious and administrative power. On the other hand, the Hippodrome was a social place that hosted entertainment and racing activities in people's daily lives as well as royal ceremonies.
The Hagia Sophia Mosque was built in the 6th century and attracts attention with its extraordinary scale and unusual design. Descriptions of the building have survived to this day as an architectural masterpiece, used in the mosaic technique, as one of the most important examples of Byzantine painting and of great importance for world painting.
Ayairini, one of the Byzantine churches, also located in the area is one of the important structures that has survived to this day with all its units. In the area there are large-scale water cisterns such as Yerebatan and Binbirdirek, which were important settlements of the Byzantine period. There are about fifty water tanks, some of which are smaller in size.
Topkapı Palace is one of the most important structures still standing today and features architectural and decorative features of every period from the 15th to the 19th century.
In the area there are such types of buildings as mosques-masjids, rest houses, madrasahs, mausoleums, baths, public fountains, fountains, arasta-bazaar spirit levels, muvakkithane, primary schools, soup kitchens. Among these, the Haseki Hürrem Sultan bath, considered by Mimar Sinan as a double bath next to the Hagia Sophia Mosque, appears as one of the rare examples.
SULEYMANIYE WORLD HERITAGE AREA
The Süleymaniye World Heritage Site includes the Süleymaniye, Vefa and Vezneciler districts, located around the Süleymaniye Complex and the Şehzade Mehmet Complex. In this area there is also a historical building called the Bozdoğan Aqueduct, which is one of the important works of Roman aqueduct architecture. In the area that was an important building area during the Byzantine period, we can see the structures today known as Kalenderihane and the Vefa Cathedral Mosque (Molla Gürani Mosque). In the mid-16th century, Suleiman the Magnificent built two large complexes in this area to keep prince Mehmet and his name alive. In Tezkiretü'l Bünyan, which tells about the works of Sinan, the chief architect of that period, he describes the Şehzade Mehmet Complex as an apprenticeship and Süleymaniye as the work of a journeyman.
The Suleymaniye complex was the second largest social complex and the largest foundation in the Ottoman world. The social complex, which is an important element of the city's appearance and forms an important landmark with its location overlooking the Golden Horn, Bosphorus and Galata from the courtyard, includes a mosque in the center, the mausoleums of Suleiman the Magnificent and Hürrem Sultan, an elementary school, four madrasahs and darü'l-hadith madrasahs, a medical school and hospital, a soup kitchen, a soup kitchen, a public bathhouse plus and platform stores. The streetscape between these units remains unique to this day.
Süleymaniye is also very particular about structural materials. The colorful marble slabs and columns brought from the Aegean and Mediterranean worlds symbolize how the Ottoman Empire encompassed previous civilizations and ruled over a vast geographical area. After the construction of Suleymaniye, Mimar Sinan was also present at the opening ceremony and when Sinan died in 1588, he was buried in a tomb built next to this complex. This situation emphasizes the artist's position in society. There are many places of worship, fountains and libraries in the area. Some buildings are still used today to meet worship needs.
Two of the manuscript libraries contain nearly one-sixth of the 600 thousand manuscripts in Türkiye, located in the Suleymaniye World Heritage Site. One of them, the Suleymaniye Library, holds a collection of 77,000 manuscripts.
Traditional housing structures, one of the most important features of the area, also stand out. The majority of the buildings were built of wood in the 19th century. These mansions are fine examples of Ottoman residential structures with wide porches, wide porches, latticed windows and facade decoration.
ISTANBUL EARTH WALL PROTECTION AREA
The Earthen Walls World Heritage Site includes the walls and the area around them, bordering the peninsula on which the city was founded to the west (landwise) and extending from the Sea of Marmara in the south to the Golden Horn in the north.
The earthen walls comprised a triple defense system consisting of the main wall, front wall and moat. These walls represent the latest phase of defensive techniques developed in the Mediterranean world against siege techniques developed in ancient and medieval times. For this reason, it prevented many armies from reaching the city for about 1000 years and became the most important basis for the continued existence of the Byzantine State throughout this period.
Social complexes for Ottoman sultans, viziers, and dignitaries were built around points where large groups entered and exited the city from the earthen walls. The cafe is one of the important buildings in the Land Walls area. These buildings have an important place in social life as structures where people go in and out of the city to rest and where people who come to the city at night stay.
ZEYREK WORLD HERITAGE AREA
World Heritage Site Zeyrek is located off the western side of Atatürk Avenue on the slope overlooking the Golden Horn. The Zeyrek World Heritage Site also includes the Molla Zeyrek Mosque (former Pantokrator Monastery Church) and surrounding streets.
Zeyrek Mosque was built in the 12th century by Emperor John Komnenos and his wife Eirene as the center of a large monastery. Nothing remains today except the cisterns that contained parts of the monastery in addition to the church. The church ranks as one of the finest examples of medieval Byzantine architecture. Byzantine sources report that many emperors and empresses were buried in this monastery. After the conquest of Istanbul, the Pantokrator Monastery was converted into a madrasah. It is accepted that Istanbul University education begins here. The leading scientists of that period taught at the madrasa. This region is called Zeyrek because of one of these scientists, Molla Mehmet, which means intelligent, ready answer.
The area has a significant accumulation of Ottoman-era housing structures, especially pre-19th-century houses, and associated units such as stone rooms, bathrooms, kitchens and garden walls that can today be considered data of Ottoman archaeology.
THERE ARE 22 AREAS FROM Türkiye ON THE UNESCO LIST
There are 22 sites from Türkiye on the UNESCO World List. There are 79 protected lions on the provisional list. From Türkiye, Göreme National Park and UNESCO World List Cappadocia Rocks, Divriği Great Mosque and Hospital, Historic Area of Istanbul, Hattusa: Capital of the Hittites, Mount Nemrut, Hierapolis-Pamukkale, Xanthos-Letoon, Safranbolu City, Troy Archaeological Site, Selimiye Mosque and Social Complex
Neolithic Site Çatalhöyük, Bursa and Cumalıkızık: The Birth of the Ottoman Empire, Pergamon and its Layered Cultural Landscape, Diyarbakır Castle and Hevsel Garden Cultural Landscape, Ephesus, Ani Archaeological Site, Aphrodisias, Göbekli Tepe, Arslantepe Mound, Gordion, Wooden Model Mosque in Medieval Anatolia
There is Lydian Tumuli of Sardis and Bin Tepe.
