Seven hills of Istanbul

The city has inherited this denomination from Byzantine Constantinople which – consciously following [citation needed] the model of Rome – was built on seven hills too.

The seven hills, all located in the area within the walls, first appeared when the valleys of the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus were opened up during the Secondary and Tertiary periods.

The first hill on which the ancient city of Byzantium was founded, begins from Seraglio Point and extends over the whole area containing Hagia Sophia, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque and Topkapı Palace.

The fourth hill on which stood the Church of the Holy Apostles and, subsequently, the Fatih Mosque, slopes down rather steeply to the Golden Horn on the north and, rather more gently, to Aksaray on the south.

The fifth and the sixth hills are separated by the valley running down on the west to Balat on the shore of the Golden Horn.