The city has many structurally significant entities, please see the list of architectural structures in Istanbul. In all its long history, Istanbul acquired a reputation to be a cultural and ethnic crucible. Consequently, there are many mosques, churches, synagogues, palates, castles and turns historical to visit in the city. The most important monuments of Roman architecture in the city include the column of Constantine (Turkish = Çemberlitaş) what was set up in 330 and contains several fragments of the original cross and the basin with which the Mary Virgin washed the feet of Jesus (with several other important objects worked) at her base, the aqueduct of Mazulkemer and the aqueduct of Valens, column of Goths (Gotlar Sütunu) at the point of Seraglio, Milion which was used to calculate the distances between Constantinople and other cities of the Roman empire, and the hippodrome of Constantinople which was built after the model of the Maximus circus in Rome.

The construction of the walls of Constantinople began under Constantine the large one, who increased the walls previously existing of Byzance in order to defend the new Roman capital city which quickly developed following its proclamation like nova Roma. A new whole of walls was other west established during the reign of Theodosius II, and rebuilt after an earthquake in 447 in their current form. The dams in the area of Sarayburnu (not of Seraglio), which without interruption existed since Lygos and Byzance, are the oldest part of the walls of city; while the walls triple ground of Theodosius II at the Western end of the city are the strongest parts. The section of the North-West of the ground walls was drawn up in 627, during the reign of Heraclius, in order to adapt to the suburbs of Blachernae, and was added to by the posterior emperors. The walls of city had 55 doors, largest whose Carried it Aurea was (carries of gold), the ceremonious door of entry employed by the emperors, at the end of the south-west of the triple ground walls, close to the Marmara Sea. To the difference of the walls of city which were built brick and stone with lime, Carried it Aurea was built large white blocks of marble Nets in order to distinguish it from the rest, and a quadriga with statues of elephant was held on its top.

The doors of Carried Aurea were made gold, consequently of the name, which means the gold door in Latin. In 1458 the Mehmed sultan of stool II built the castle of Yedikule (seven turns) to defend Carried it Aurea, which was incorporated in this castle and is always held like part of the pentagon-formed provision of the walls of castle. The column of Marcian (Turkish= Kıztaşı) set up by Marcianus (450-457 reigned) date of the same period as ground the triple walls of Theodosius II. Architecture bizantine early followed the traditional Roman model of the domes and the vaults, but further improved these architectural concepts, as shown with Hagia Sophia which was conceived by Isidorus and Anthemius like the third church with raising on this place, between 532 and 537, according to the revolt of Nika (532) during which the second church was destroyed (the first church, known under the name of Megala Ekklessia (large church) was inaugurated by Constantius II in 360; the second church was inaugurated by Theodosius II in 405, whereas the third and the current one were inaugurated by Justinian in 537). The church of the saints Sergius and Bacchus, who was the first church built by Justinian in Constantinople and edificed between 527 and 536, earlier had announced such an improvement of the design of the arched buildings, which require the complex solutions to carry the structure. Hagia Irene and the tank of basilica also take place this period.

Though the majority of the churches bizantines which were built or increased by Justinian at the 6th century in the beginning were built at the 4th century at the Constantine time, the church bizantine of the oldest survival in Istanbul with its original form is the monastery of Stoudios (İmrahor), which was built in 462. The monastery is also known like street John Stoudios because it was devoted to the street Jean - Baptist. The roof of the building does not exist today, but its surrounding walls as its splendid decorations of floor are still intact.

Many important decisions concerning Christianity were taken inside this building, including the surging discussions on the identity of the Mary Virgin (if it were Theotokos (mother of God) and if he were right to condemn Nestorius which was opposed to this definition) as well as discussions and dissensions on the iconoclasm. The most existing structure bizantine which survived of the reign of Heraclius (610 - 641) is the prisons of Anemas , incorporated in the walls of city, at Blachernae. It is enormous castle - like the structure with several turns and a network of the underground prisons bizantines. Many churches with the splendid gold icons were built until the 8th century, when these icons were destroyed for the first period iconoclast (730 - 787) which began with the reign of Lion III Isaurian. Similar to the Islamic belief that one should prohibit of the images of the Mohamed prophet, the orthodoxe Christian iconoclasts of this period also believed that the images of the Christ and other figures of Christianity on the walls of the churches constituted a sin, and they have them with force make remove, in spite of the resistance of the priests which defended the icons, often causing civil disagreements. This was followed second period iconoclast (814 - 842) which was launched by Leo V the Armenian. After the decision by Theodora, the wife of Theophilus, to reconstitute the icons in 843, much of churches and other buildings bizantins ahead in the city were decorated with new icons, but some, like Hagia Irene, motionless bear the signs of the period iconoclast. The palate of Boukoleon dates mainly from the reign of Theophilus. During the fourth crusade in 1204, the majority of the important buildings of the city were returned, and of many architectural and artistic treasures were embarked in Venice, whose doge, Enrico Dandolo, had organized to return it from Constantinople. These articles include the famous statue of Tetrarchs and the four bronze statues of horse which were in the past held with the top of the hippodrome of Constantinople, which is held today on the frontage plan of the basilica of the mark of Saint in Venice (the basilica itself was modelled after the church of the holy apostles in Constantinople, just as the Palate of the Doges was modelled after the palate of Boukoleon).

The palate of Porphyrogenitus (Turkish= Tekfur Sarayı), which is the only part of survival of the palate of Blachernae, dates from the period of the fourth crusade. In these years, Scandinavian side of the gold horn, the Dominican priests of the catholic church built the church of Paul saint in 1233. The most important churches which were built after the Byzantines took Constantinople behind in 1261 include the church of Pammakaristos and the church of Chora. Moreover during this time, Genoese Podestà de Galata, Montani de Marinis, built Palazzo del Comune (1314), a copy of the palate of San Giorgio in Genoa, which is always held in the ruins on the back streets of Bankalar Caddesi in Galata, like its adjacent buildings and many houses of Genoese of the 1300s early. Genoese A also built the tower of Galata, which they called like Christea Turris (turn of Christ), at the highest point of the citadel of Galata, in 1348. The Turks of stool established the Anatolian castle on the Asian side of Bosphorus in 1394, and the castle of Rumeli to the shore (European) opposed, in 1452, one year before the conquest of Constantinople. The principal goal of these castles, armed with the guns with Balyemez of long range (Faule Metze), was to block the traffic of sea of Bosphorus and to prevent the boats of support of the colonies of Genoese on the seaports Black, such as Caffa, Sinop, and Amasra, to reach Constantinople and to help the Byzantines during the Turkish seat of the city. After the conquest of stool of the city, the sultan Mehmed II launches a widespread plan of rebuilding, which included the construction of the large buildings such as the mosque of Sultan of Eyüp, the mosque of Fatih, the palate of Topkapı, the large bazaar and the castle of Yedikule (seven turns) which kept the principal door of entry of the city, Carried it Aurea (carries of gold). In centuries following Mehmed II, much of new important buildings, such as the mosque of Süleymaniye, the mosque of Sultanahmet, the mosque of Yeni and the many others were built. Traditionally, of the buildings of stool were built flowered wood. Only 'buildings of state' like palates and mosques were built stone. Starting from the 18èmes and 19èmes centuries, wood was gradually replaced with the stone like primary building material, whereas architectural models of traditional stool were replaced with European architectural models, particularly following the movement of Tanzimat which effectively began the process of Europeanization of Turkey in 1839. But even before the period of Tanzimat, of the European models started to appear in the city, such as the interiors baroques of model of the palate of Aynalıkavak (1677 - 1679) and of the mosque of Nuruosmaniye (1748 - 1755, the first mosque baroque of model in the city, so famous for its fountain baroque), and the baroques additions of the 18th century to the section of harem of the palate of Topkapı. New palates and mosques were built in neo - classic models, baroques and rococo, or a mixture of each of the three, such as the palate of Dolmabahçe, the mosque of Dolmabahçe and the mosque of Ortaköy (Mecidiye). Even Néo mosques - Gothics were built, like the mosque of sultan of Pertevniyal Valide and the mosque of Yıldız (Hamidiye). Large buildings of state like military schools or barracks were also built in various European models. As from the 19th century early, the sectors around the avenue of İstiklal were filled with imposing buildings of embassy belonging to the European states ahead, and the lines (most of the time neo - classic art and late Nouveau) of the European buildings of model started to appear on the two sides of the avenue. Istanbul particularly became an important center of the movement again of art in end of the 19me and beginning of the 20th century, with the famous architects of this model like Raimondo D' Aronco building much palate and manors in the city itself and on Islands of the princes. Its more important work in the city includes several buildings of the complex of palate of Yıldız, and the Room of Botter on the avenue of İstiklal. The famous staircases of Camondo on Bankalar Caddesi (street of banks) in Karaköy (Galata) is also a beautiful example of architecture again of art. Other important examples are Hıdiv Kasrı (palate of Khedive) on the Asian side of Bosphorus, Flora Han in Sirkeci, and Frej Apartmanı in the quarter of Şişhane de Beyoğlu. Thus, by the semi 19th century, the southernmost part of the gold horn (the historical peninsula of Constantinople) had traditionally an aspect and a population Turkish of stool, whereas the northern part of the gold horn became more and more Europeanized in terms of architecture and terms of demography. The bridge of Galata had become a connection between the parts (southernmost and Scandinavian) Eastern and Western on the European side of Istanbul. Bosphorus was regarded as a resource of summer for the period of stool and the houses and the traditional manors out of wooden, called the yalı, were the choice of the rich elite of stool. The major part of the development occurred for the period of tulip, one period which better is represented by Sadullah Paşa Yalısı builds in 1783. The oldest yalı of survival is the yalı of Amcazade Köprülü Hüseyin Pasha located in Kandilli on the Asian shores of Bosphorus and the dates of 1699. The manors out of wooden of country cottage of edge of the sea maintained their principles architectural basic until the middle of the 19th century, when they were gradually replaced by the less flammable brick houses particularly for the first constitutional period. The development of the yalıs lasted to the First World War.