Meeting Point

At your hotel lobby

At your hotel Lobby

I will meet you up at ypur hotel lobby.

Tekfur Palace

The so-called Palace of the Porphyrogenitus (Turkish Tekfur Sarayı) was located in the region of Blachernai (modern Ayvansaray) in the northwestern corner of Byzantine Constantinople. Its name likely refers to the porphyrogenitus (“purple-born”) Constantine, son of Emperor Michael VIII (1259–1282). It was built on a hill above the Blachernai Palace, as a separate yet closely related complex. It opened as a museum in 2019 following a controversial reconstruction.

Chora Monastery

The Monastery of Christ at Chora (Μονή του Χριστού της Χώρα) was located in northwestern Byzantine Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey) near Charisios Gate (Edirnekapı), south of the Palace of the Porphyrogenitus (Tekfur Sarayı). The well-preserved mosaics and frescoes of the surviving katholikon of the monastery are important examples of monumental art of the Late Byzantine period. After serving as a mosque (known as Kariye Mosque or Ali Pasha Kenise Mosque), it was converted into a museum in 1945 and is now included on the list of the Historic Areas of Istanbul of UNESCO World Heritage.

Theotokos Pammakaristos (From Outside)

The Monastery of the Theotokos Pammakaristos (Mother of God the All-Blessed), now Fethiye Mosque, was located on the fifth hill of Constantinople, in the modern neighborhood of Çarşamba. It is located south-east of Chora and Blachernai churches. It is a Middle Byzantine Church, founded during the Komnenian era, with late Byzantine additions, notable for its extensively decorated parekklesion.

Panagia Mouchliotissa

The Church of Panagia Mouchliotissa (Παναγία Μουχλιώτισσα), located in the district of Fener, is the only Byzantine church in the city that has continued to function as an Orthodox church. This church, which is also known as St. Mary of the Mongols, was a Middle Byzantine structure significantly altered during the Palaiologan and Ottoman eras.

Cistern of Aspar

The Cistern of Aspar (κινστέρνα του Άσπαρος) was a huge open-air water reservoir located on the Fifth Hill of Constantinople. It is now next to the Mosque of Sultan Selim. The cistern was built by the Patrician Aspar in 459. Aspar was an influential 5th century figure of Alan descent who served as magister militum and consul. By representing the power of the Germanic elements of the military, he dominated the Eastern court. Aspar helped secure the throne for Valentinian III and later did the same for Leo I. His influence was undercut by Leo’s alliance with Zeno, which eventually led to his execution in 471. While it is generally identified with the cistern that Aspar had built, it has also been identified with the Cistern of Bonus.

Fatih Mosque

Located in the middle of the historical peninsula of Istanbul in Fatih neighbourhood, the Fatih Mosque (Fatih Camii) is the mosque of Fatih Mosque Complex (Fatih Külliyesi) commissioned in 1463, ten years after the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453. The construction of the mosque lasted seven years and was finished in 1470. It was the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II (Mehmet the Conqueror) who commissioned the mosque, therefore his name was given to the mosque as well as neighbourhood. In Turkish, Fatih means “the conqueror”.

Lunch at the local restaurant (extra)

We will have lunch in a local turkish hommade food restaurant

Pantokrator Monastery

The Monastery of Christ Pantokrator is located on the fourth hill of Constantinople overlooking the Golden Horn, east of the Church of the Holy Apostles and north of the Aqueduct of Valens. Built between 1118-1136, it was a large monastic complex with a hospital. It is possible that the nearby Şeyh Süleyman Mosque was once part of the complex, perhaps serving as its library. There are also several cisterns in the vicinity, including the prominent is Unkapanı Cistern. At one time it held more than a dozen tombs of Byzantine emperors.

Valens Aqueducts

The Aqueduct of Valens (Greek Ἀγωγὸς τοῦ ὕδατος) stretched across the valley east of the Church of the Holy Apostles between the Fourth and Third Hills of Constantinople. It dates to the late 4th century and was again used in the Ottoman era, when it was known as Bozdoğan Kemeri (“Aqueduct of the Grey Falcon”). The Aqueduct of Valens is not merely a bridge of arches, but an immense network that supplied Constantinople water for many centuries.

Church of St. Polyeuktos

The Church of St. Polyeuktos was a large church built by Anicia Juliana in the 520s. Built before Justinian’s major building program that included Hagia Sophia, it was one of the largest and most sumptuously decorated churches in Constantinople. It seems to have been abandoned by the 13th century and its ruins were discovered in 1960.

Theotokos Kyriotissa

The Church of Theotokos Kyriotissa (now Kalenderhane Mosque) is located near the east end of the Aqueduct of Valens in Constantinople. While it is a large Middle Byzantine church with a cross-in-square plan covered by a dome, it has a complex structural history, with several stages of building on the site, including a bath complex.

Monastery of the Myrelaion

The Monastery of Myrelaion (Bodrum Camii) was once located west of the Forum of Theodosius on the Mese in Constantinople. It is an important example of a cross-in-square plan from the Middle Byzantine era.

Monastery of Lips

The Monastery of Lips consists of two adjoined churches in the Lycus valley of Constantinople, southwest of the Church of the Holy Apostles. During the Ottoman Era, it became a mosque known as Fenari İsa Mosque. The north church, dedicated to Theotokos Panachrantos (the Immaculate Mother of God), was constructed in 907 under the auspices of Constantine Lips, while the south church, dedicated to Hagios Ioannes Prodromos (St. John the Forerunner), was built in the late thirteenth century by Empress Theodora (c. 1240-1303), wife of Michael VIII Palaiologos.

End of our tour

i will take you back to your hotel.

Ending Point

At your hotel lobby