Full day tour
starts: 09:00 a.m., finishes 05:00 p.m.
Tour features:
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Fener, Panagia of Blachernae Church, ruins of Blachernae Palace, St. Savior in Chora (closed on Tuesday), Hagia Sophia Basilica (closed on Monday)
Program:
After morning pick up from the hotel or cruise ship, we will start the tour with a visit to Hagia Sophia, which is often described as the greatest work of Byzantine architecture. Today, Haiga Sophia is the fourth largest building constructed as a church in the world. We’ll continue with a panoramic drive highlighting the Church of Sts. Sergios and Bacchus (which is undergoing an extensive restoration now) and ancient city walls of Istanbul. We will arrive at the ruins of Blachernae (Tekfur) Palace, which was the principal imperial residence during the last two centuries of the Byzantine era. From here after a short walk, we will reach St. Savior Church in Chora. The three most important features of the church, which have been restored by Theodorus Metochitus in 14C, are mosaics, frescoes and the funerary chapel (Paracclesion). After this visit we will proceed to panoramic Pier Loti Hill for lunch on our own.
After lunch we will continue to Panagia of Blachernae Church, which was the best known and most celebrated shrine of the Holy Virgin in Constantinople. The original church of the Blachernae palace complex was destroyed by fire shortly before the fall of Constantinople, and was not rebuilt until the 19th century. The new building is much more modest then the original one, but the famous Blachernae Spring is still kept inside the church.
A final visit today will be to Ecumenical Patriarchate of Fener. The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate has been on this site since about 1601 and was the religious leader of all Christians during the times of the Ottoman Empire. Among the many relics in the church are the bodies of St. Omonia, St. Theophano, and St. Euphemia of Chalcedon; also, you can see here the original throne of St. John Chrysostom and beautiful mosaic icon of the Blessed Virgin. After this visit we will return back to the hotel or cruise ship.
Note:
Minimum three days advance reservation is needed as special permission required at some of these sites. We will ask copies of your passports.
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