Half day (about 4 hours) · Istanbul
Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque Private Tour
A private Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque tour with a licensed guide:…
Best for First-time visitors · Cruise passengers
Topic
Byzantine Heritage
A thousand years of Byzantium: domes, cisterns, aqueducts and the painted rock churches of Cappadocia.
Photo: Turkey Your Way
86 pieces on this topic
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Article · Istanbul
Is Hagia Sophia Worth Visiting During the Restoration?
Is Hagia Sophia worth visiting during the restoration? What the work hides, what you can still see from the gallery, and what…
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Place · Cappadocia
Keşlik Monastery
A rock-cut monastery near Cemil, south of Ürgüp, with two painted churches and a refectory carved for more than a hundred people.
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Article · Istanbul
Byzantine Istanbul: What to See Beyond Hagia Sophia
Byzantine Istanbul beyond Hagia Sophia: the Hippodrome, the cisterns, the Chora, Zeyrek and Kalenderhane, the Little Hagia Sophia, the land walls and…
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Place · Istanbul
Saint Polyeuktos Church
The ruins of a great 6th-century church at Saraçhane, built by the princess Anicia Juliana and found by chance in the 1960s.
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Place · Istanbul
Blachernae Holy Spring
A small Greek Orthodox church in Ayvansaray over the holy spring of the Virgin Mary, on the site of one of Byzantium's…
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Place · Istanbul
Gül Mosque
A Byzantine church by the Golden Horn, turned into a mosque after 1453, with a high vaulted basement, an Ottoman dome and…
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Place · Istanbul
Zeyrek Çinili Hamam
Mimar Sinan's tiled bath for the admiral Barbaros Hayreddin, restored after 13 years as a working hamam with a museum and a…
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Place · Istanbul
Yeraltı Mosque
A prayer hall in the vault of a Byzantine tower in Karaköy, where the chain across the Golden Horn once ended, with…
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Place · Cappadocia
Selime Monastery
A cathedral, kitchen and fortress carved into the rock above Selime, where the Ihlara Valley ends.
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Place · Istanbul
Divanyolu
The old main street of Istanbul's historic peninsula, on the line of the Byzantine Mese, lined with Ottoman mosques, tombs, baths and…
Tours
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Full day (about 8 hours) · Istanbul
One Day in Istanbul Private Tour
One day in Istanbul with a private guide: Hagia Sophia, the Blue…
Best for First-time visitors · Cruise passengers
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Full day (about 8 hours) · Cappadocia
South Cappadocia Private Tour: Underground City, Ihlara Valley and Selime
A private South Cappadocia tour: the underground city of Derinkuyu or Kaymaklı,…
Best for Families · Returning visitors
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Half day or full day (about 5 to 8 hours) · Istanbul
Istanbul Shore Excursion from Galataport, Private
A private Istanbul shore excursion from Galataport: your guide meets you at…
Best for First-time visitors · Cruise passengers
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Half day, planned around your flights · Istanbul
Private Layover Tour from Istanbul Airport
A private Istanbul layover tour: pick-up at Istanbul Airport, Hagia Sophia, the…
Best for First-time visitors · Layover
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2-day journey
Istanbul in 2 Days: A Private Tour of the Old City, the Bazaars and the Bosphorus
A private 2-day Istanbul tour: Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and Topkapı…
Best for First-time visitors
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3-day journey
Istanbul 3 Day Tour: The Old City, the Bosphorus and the Neighborhoods
A private Istanbul 3 day tour: Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and…
Best for First-time visitors
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Full day (about 8 hours) · Istanbul
Byzantine Istanbul Private Tour: Constantinople Beyond Hagia Sophia
A private Byzantine Istanbul tour: Hagia Irene, Little Hagia Sophia, the gallery…
Best for Returning visitors
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4-day journey
Istanbul and Cappadocia in 4 Days: A Private Tour with a Flight
A private 4-day Istanbul and Cappadocia tour: two days in the old…
Best for First-time visitors
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5-day journey
Istanbul and Cappadocia Tour in 5 Days: Two Continents and a Valley of Fairy Chimneys
A private 5-day Istanbul and Cappadocia tour: Hagia Sophia, Topkapı, the bazaars…
Best for First-time visitors · Families
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Full day (about 7 hours) · Istanbul
Wheelchair Accessible Istanbul Tour: Old City and the Bosphorus
A private wheelchair accessible Istanbul tour: Hagia Sophia, the Hippodrome and the…
Best for First-time visitors · Families
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Full day at a relaxed pace (about 6 hours) · Istanbul
Istanbul Tour for Seniors: Private Day at a Relaxed Pace
A private Istanbul tour for seniors: Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and…
Best for First-time visitors
About this topic
Byzantine Heritage
For a thousand years Constantinople was the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, so its churches, cisterns and walls still stand in the middle of modern Istanbul.
Hagia Sophia is the most famous of them. Justinian built it between 532 and 537. Across the square, the Basilica Cistern stored the palace’s water, while the Valens Aqueduct carried it into the city.
Cappadocia keeps another side of Byzantium. Monks painted Christ in the rock churches of Göreme and Ihlara Valley, and villagers expanded the underground cities of Derinkuyu and Kaymaklı to hide from raids.
Much of this Byzantine heritage is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Visit Hagia Sophia and the cistern on the same morning, because they stand a five-minute walk apart.
To see how it all fits together, read our short history of Istanbul.