Which are the seven hills of Istanbul, what stands on them, and how to see them on foot? A visitor's guide to the city's hilly geography and its views.
Istanbul is a city of slopes. Walk anywhere in the old center and you climb, descend and climb again, and sooner or later a street opens onto water. The tradition of the "seven hills" is a way of naming that shape. It is a famous phrase, and it helps to know what it actually refers to, because the hills are less about a checklist than about understanding the city.
What the seven hills are
The seven hills are the ridges of the historic peninsula, the old city between the Golden Horn to the north, the Sea of Marmara to the south and the old land walls to the west. The tradition borrows the idea of the seven hills of Rome, a comparison that was applied to the city in earlier centuries. Counting from the eastern tip, where Hagia Sophia and Topkapi Palace stand, the hills run westward along the spine of the peninsula.
You will find slightly different lists in different sources, and it is better to treat the number as a tradition than as a precise map. What is firm is the general picture: a long ridge with several summits, valleys between them, water on both sides.
What stands on the hills
Many of the best-known landmarks sit at or near a summit:
- The first hill, at the eastern tip, is the area around Hagia Sophia and Topkapi Palace. The Hippodrome of the ancient city lay on the same hill.
- The second hill includes the area of Çemberlitaş, where the Column of Constantine, dedicated in 330, still stands.
- The third hill is crowned by the Süleymaniye Mosque and its precinct, which looks out over the Golden Horn.
- The fourth hill is the Fatih area, a large neighborhood with markets and everyday city life.
The remaining hills continue westward and are less visited by travelers, but they complete the picture of a ridge running through the whole peninsula.
How the hills shaped the city
Geography is more than scenery. Water, for instance, was a problem that the hills made harder, because a city on ridges has to carry water across the valleys between them. The Valens Aqueduct, known in Turkish as the Bozdoğan Kemeri, strides across the valley between the third and fourth hills and is one of the most visible signs of that effort still standing.
The hills also gave the city its silhouette. Seen from the water, the domes and minarets on the ridges form the skyline that so many travelers recognize. That is the quiet point of the seven hills: they are the reason the skyline looks the way it does.
A short walking route
You do not have to see them all in a day. A simple outline:
- Morning, first hill. Walk around Sultanahmet and notice where the ground falls away toward the Golden Horn and the Marmara.
- Midday, second and third hills. Walk from Çemberlitaş toward Beyazit, feel the slopes, and look at the Golden Horn from the Süleymaniye terrace.
- Afternoon, fourth hill and beyond. Spend time in the Fatih neighborhood and see how daily life fits the slopes.
- Late afternoon. Find a high point to watch the light change over the city.
It is a suggestion rather than a requirement. Many visitors enjoy two hills well more than seven hills in a hurry.
Looking at the Bosphorus from another ridge
The seven hills are on the historic peninsula, but some of the best views of the Bosphorus come from other ridges. The ridge above Ortaköy and Etiler, where Ulus Park lies, looks east across the strait to the Asian shore, with the 15 July Martyrs Bridge below. It is a different kind of view: not the old skyline, but the water itself and the traffic moving over it. We describe it in our guide to Ulus Park.
Seeing the hills from the water
If you want to understand the hills as a whole, a ferry on the Golden Horn or the Bosphorus shows the skyline from below, with domes and minarets rising on their ridges. The effect is easy to grasp in a way that a map cannot match. On a clear evening the hills turn gold and then dark blue; for the timing, see our table of Istanbul sunset times by month.
A note on the numbers
Be wary of sources that give exact heights, names and boundaries for each hill as if they were fixed. Lists vary, and the edges between hills are not marked. For a visitor it is enough to know the general idea and to look for the slopes.
At 7 Hills
The restaurant is named for the tradition, though it is not on the historic peninsula: 7 Hills is inside Ulus Park at Adnan Saygun Caddesi No: 71/B, and describes itself as a 360° panoramic restaurant in Istanbul. Its floor-to-ceiling glass dining room looks over the Bosphorus and the 15 July Martyrs Bridge, which is lit at night. You can see the room in the gallery.
To reserve a table, call +90 533 373 91 34 or send a message on WhatsApp.
Questions
What are the seven hills of Istanbul?
They are the seven ridges of the historic peninsula, counted from the tip near Topkapi Palace and Hagia Sophia westward along the Golden Horn. The tradition echoes the seven hills of Rome.
Where are the seven hills?
On the historic peninsula, the part of old Istanbul between the Golden Horn, the Sea of Marmara and the old city walls. They are not in the Ulus and Etiler area.
Can you see all seven hills in one day?
You do not need to. A walk across two or three of them, with a stop at a high point near sunset, gives a good sense of the geography.
Is Ulus one of the seven hills?
No. Ulus and Etiler are on the ridges above the European shore of the Bosphorus, outside the historic peninsula. The view from there is of a different kind.