Tour of Istanbul 'Churches and Holy Places of the (Byzantine) Empire

1: Excursion to the Roman Hippodrome:

The largest of the five Constantinople Hippodromes, the second largest in the Mediterranean, after the Great Circus in Rome, is used as the Turkish Ethnographic Islamic Art Museum. It was used as a place of horse races, gladiatorial battles, triumphal processions, public acts related to the transfer or addition of imperial power and the execution of executions. It was a kind of center of social and political life of the common people of the capital. There you will see the German spring, the column of Constantine, the palace of Ibrahim Pasha.

2: Excursion to the Basilica reservoir:

History Underground - Basilica Reservoir. The Basilica Reservoir, or as it is now called, the Yerebatan Palace (Underground Palace), located southwest of Ayasofya, is considered one of the most impressive monuments in Istanbul. A huge underground reservoir was built on the orders of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I, because of the countless columns rising from the water, the people called this place – the Palace of Yerebatan. During the period of the republic, the Basilica Reservoir, after restoration, was turned into a museum by the City Hall of Istanbul and opened to tourists who do not leave the city without visiting this impressive building of antiquity. In 1985, the repository was closed for repairs, 50,000 tons of mud was removed from it and tour paths were built, and reopened in 1987. In May 1994, the Basilica Reservoir again underwent repair and cleaning, and today continues its centuries-old history, and how fish once swim in it. Visitors to this unusual museum can watch how fish swim among the numerous columns, and to the sounds of classical music heard under the ancient vaults go on a mental journey back in time.

3: Excursion to the temple of St. Sophia:

4: Excursion to the Choir Church:

The most preserved of its original appearance is the Byzantine church in Istanbul. Since 1948, it has been open to tourists as the Karie Museum and is one of the Istanbul World Heritage Sites.

The name comes from the fact that before the construction of Theodosius II of the current city walls, the church stood outside the walls of the imperial capital, south of the Golden Horn. The surviving building was built by the care of Maria Duca, mother-in-law of Emperor Alexei Comnenus, in 1077-81. Half a century later, part of the vaults collapsed, probably due to an earthquake, and the youngest son Alexei financed the restoration work.

The Choir Church was rebuilt after the Palaeologians came to power in 1315-21. The kitor was the great logothete Theodor Metohit. He spent his last years in the monastery as an ordinary monk (his citatorial portrait has been preserved). The mosaics and frescoes he ordered are an unsurpassed artistic achievement of the Paleologov Revival.

During the siege of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453, the icon of the Heavenly Intercessor of the city - the icon of Our Lady of Odigitria - was brought to the monastery. Half a century later, the Turks plastered all the images of the Byzantine period to turn the church into a mosque of Karie-jami. Chora came back to life as an island of Byzantium in the middle of a modern Islamic city as a result of restoration work in 1948.

5: Excursion to the main church of the Greek Patriarchate, the Orthodox Church of Constantinople:

The first in the diptych autocephalous Orthodox Church. In Greek literature it is often called the Great Church of Christ.

6: Excursion to Wlahern Church:

Here are the Cover of the Virgin and her belt - relics that have survived to our day. The temple where they are located is the Church of Vlahern, open to those who wish.

7: The Monastery of the Mother of God in Balykly:

The legend about the very idea of building Balykly is very beautiful. One hot summer day one of the military commanders of Byzantium Leo Markell met a blind man who was exhausted from thirst. In search of water, Leo went around all the nearby springs, but as it turned out, they were all dried up by the heat. And suddenly he heard a woman’s voice beside him: “In the grove you will find living water.” Drink the blind man and wash his eyes, king. And later I will help you build a temple here. The lion understood that the Most Holy Mother of God spoke to him. Nearby in the grove, he actually found an abandoned well of water. When Leo washed the blind man’s eyes with this water, he saw. A little time passed and another prediction of the Virgin Mary was fulfilled - Leo Markel became the emperor of Byzantium.