The tallest building in Istanbul is the CBRT Tower (Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey Tower), which rises 354 metres (1,161 ft) to the tip of its spire and 330 metres to its roof across 62 floors in the Finanskent district of Ümraniye, on the Asian side of the city. Completed in 2024, it is Turkey's first true supertall skyscraper — a title the widely cited Istanbul Sapphire (261 m) lost back in 2016.
CBRT Tower: Istanbul's Current Record-Holder
The CBRT Tower anchors the Istanbul Finance Centre (Finanskent), a purpose-built banking district in Ümraniye on the Asian shore. It was designed by Vizzion Mimarlık under architect Şefik Birkiye and serves as the headquarters of Turkey's central bank — meaning that unlike most record-breaking towers, it is a working institutional building rather than a luxury residential or hotel project.
- Height: 354 m (1,161 ft) to spire; 330 m (1,080 ft) to roof
- Floors: 62 above ground
- Completed: 2024
- District: Finanskent, Ümraniye (Asian side)
- Architect: Vizzion Mimarlık (Şefik Birkiye)
- Primary use: Central bank headquarters and offices
The 300-metre mark matters more than it looks. In skyscraper classification, buildings above 300 m are labelled "supertall," and until the CBRT Tower topped out, Turkey had none — a striking gap for a country with a city of roughly 16 million people. Crossing that threshold moved Istanbul into a category previously occupied in the wider region only by Dubai, Doha, Riyadh, and Moscow.
Why the roof height and spire height differ
The 24-metre gap between the tower's roof (330 m) and its official height (354 m) is the kind of detail that causes conflicting answers online. International practice, set by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, counts architectural spires as part of a building's height but excludes functional antennas. The CBRT Tower's crown is architectural, so 354 m is the figure used in official rankings.
How Istanbul's Record Changed Hands
Istanbul's tallest-building title has moved four times in about fifteen years, which is exactly why so many sources — including older versions of this page — still name the wrong building.
- 2010–2016 — Istanbul Sapphire (261 m): The Levent tower that first gave Istanbul a genuine skyscraper profile.
- 2017–2018 — Skyland İstanbul (284 m): Twin towers in Seyrantepe, Sarıyer district, near the Türk Telekom Stadium.
- 2018–2024 — Metropol Istanbul Tower (301 m): 280 m to the roof, 301 m including twin spires, 70 floors, in Ataşehir on the Asian side.
- 2024–present — CBRT Tower (354 m): The first Turkish building to clear 300 m.
The current top five completed buildings in the city are the CBRT Tower (354 m), Metropol Istanbul Tower (301 m), Skyland İstanbul (284 m), Istanbul Sapphire (261 m), and Emaar Square's Address Hotel & Residences (245 m, completed 2020).
Istanbul Sapphire: The Tower Everyone Still Names
Istanbul Sapphire, pictured above, remains the most photographed and most frequently misidentified tower in the city. Designed by Tabanlıoğlu Architects and completed in 2010, it stands 261 m to the tip of its architectural spire and 238 m to the roof, with 54 floors above ground over a large retail podium.
Its enduring fame comes down to access. The Sapphire's top-floor terrace was for years the highest publicly accessible viewpoint in a building in Istanbul, offering a genuine two-continent panorama across the Bosphorus, the Golden Horn, and out toward the Princes' Islands. It was also engineered with an unusual double-skin facade and internal sky gardens intended to buffer the tower against wind and heat — features that were novel in Turkey at the time.
Tallest Building vs Tallest Structure
There is an important distinction hiding behind this question. The tallest building in Istanbul is the CBRT Tower, but the tallest structure is the Çamlıca Tower — a broadcast tower on Küçük Çamlıca Hill in Üsküdar that reaches 369 metres, roughly 15 m higher than the CBRT Tower.
Designed by Melike Altınışık Architects and officially opened on 29 May 2021, the Çamlıca Tower consolidated around 125 separate broadcast transmitters that had previously cluttered the hills of the Asian side. Because it sits on high ground, its tip stands about 587 m above sea level, far above anything else in the city. It is excluded from building rankings because it is not primarily occupiable floor space — but it does have a public observation deck and restaurant, and it is the highest viewpoint in Istanbul by a wide margin.
Where Istanbul's Skyscrapers Cluster — and Why
Istanbul's tall buildings are not spread evenly. They form tight clusters in four districts, and every one of those clusters is deliberately far from the historic core.
The four skyscraper districts
- Levent and Maslak (European side): The original financial spine, running north from Beşiktaş — home to Istanbul Sapphire, Nurol Tower, and the Sabancı Center.
- Seyrantepe (European side): Skyland İstanbul's twin towers.
- Ataşehir (Asian side): Metropol Istanbul and a growing business district.
- Ümraniye / Finanskent (Asian side): The CBRT Tower and the new Istanbul Finance Centre.
Two constraints shape this map. The first is heritage protection: the Historic Areas of Istanbul were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985, and strict height limits across the historic peninsula keep the skyline around Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque dominated by domes and minarets rather than glass towers. For most of Istanbul's history the tallest secular landmark was the Genoese-built Galata Tower, only about 67 m high.
The second is geology. Istanbul lies close to the North Anatolian Fault, one of the most active strike-slip faults on Earth, and the 1999 İzmit earthquake to the southeast of the city killed more than 17,000 people. Turkish seismic design codes were substantially tightened afterwards, and every modern Istanbul tower is engineered around earthquake loading — typically with a reinforced-concrete core, outrigger systems, and damping. That adds cost and pushes developers toward stable bedrock sites away from the softer soils near the Bosphorus shoreline.
How Istanbul Compares to Other Skylines
At 354 m, Istanbul's tallest building is substantial but not regionally dominant. The comparison is worth making because it shows how recently Istanbul entered the supertall club.
- Dubai — Burj Khalifa, 828 m: More than twice the CBRT Tower's height. See our tallest building in Dubai guide.
- Moscow — Federation Tower, 374 m: Slightly taller than Istanbul's record-holder, and Russia's Lakhta Center in St Petersburg reaches 462 m, making it Europe's tallest. Compare with our tallest building in Moscow page.
- London — The Shard, 310 m: Shorter than the CBRT Tower. See tallest building in London.
- Frankfurt — around 259 m: Continental Europe's traditional banking skyline is lower than Istanbul's is today.
There is a geographic subtlety here that often gets missed. Because the CBRT Tower stands in Ümraniye, on the Asian shore, Istanbul's tallest building is not technically in Europe at all — so it does not appear in lists of Europe's tallest buildings, even though the city it belongs to is Europe's most populous.
Seeing Istanbul From Above
If the goal is the view rather than the record, the ranking changes completely.
- Çamlıca Tower: The highest public viewpoint in the city, with an observation deck and revolving restaurant, and by far the widest panorama.
- Galata Tower: Only about 67 m, but its position above Karaköy gives the classic postcard view across the Golden Horn to the historic peninsula.
- Sapphire's terrace: The best perspective on the modern Levent business district.
- Pierre Loti Hill, Eyüp: A low, free viewpoint over the Golden Horn — no ticket required.
The CBRT Tower itself, as a central bank headquarters, is a secure government facility and is not a visitor attraction.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Istanbul Sapphire still the tallest building in Istanbul?
No. The Sapphire held the title from 2010 to 2016 and is now the city's fourth-tallest completed building. Many websites and travel guides have not been updated.
What is the tallest building in Turkey?
The same building — the CBRT Tower in Istanbul, at 354 m — is the tallest in the whole country, and the only Turkish building above 300 m.
Is Istanbul's tallest building in Europe or Asia?
Asia. It stands in Ümraniye on the Anatolian side of the Bosphorus. Istanbul is the only major city in the world split across two continents, and the strait separating them narrows to roughly 700 m at its tightest point.