The highlight of my time in Turkey was watching the sunrise over Istanbul from an abandoned factory rooftop. It was absolutely mesmerizing and after receiving a lot of requests over Instagram I have put together a detailed article on how to find this rooftop and experience its wonder!
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STEP 1: Büyük Valide Han
The first thing to do is type Büyük Valide Han into Google Maps. This will give you an indication of the general vicinity of the rooftop. I have put a screenshot below of what should come up on your maps.
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STEP 2: Once you have arrived, Look for the courtyard entrance
The street that the courtyard entrance is on is a very steep road that is lined with stores. Below I have put a picture of the entrance.
STEP 3: Walk up the stairs to your immediate left
When you go through the entrance immediately walk up the first stairs to your left. A picture of what this staircase looks like is below.
Walk up the stairs and then walk around the level to your right until you see an old locked door (pictured below). If Mr. Mehdi is not sitting out the front knock on the door next to it. Mr. Mehdi should be there and will unlock the door for a tip of about $2 AUD.
If you cannot see the stairs to your left (which I didn’t when I first visited) ask one of the locals in the courtyard, they will direct you to Mr. Mehdi. If you point to the rooftop they will understand who you are looking for 🙂
STEP 5: Make the most of the rooftop
After Mr. Mehdi lets you through the door you simply climb up the stairs and take in the view! I would recommend getting there as early as possible to get the place all to yourself. I was able to set up my tripod and have completely uninterrupted shots.
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Make sure to keep your safety in mind when navigating around the rooftop as there are no railings and it is not a maintained area. Be especially careful when standing on the domes as some of them have holes in them.
The morning that I visited this rooftop was my last morning overseas before I flew back to Australia after more than a year abroad – so this place is incredibly special to me! I recommend trying to visit this rooftop during your time in Istanbul, it was more stunning than any of my pictures can convey 🙂
For other photography hotspots make sore to check out my highlights of Turkey article!
If you have any questions feel free to comment below!
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