Byzantine Istanbul Tour With a Specialist Guide
Constantinople survives in fragments across the old city. Our specialists know where they are, and how to read them.
What Still Stands of Constantinople
Byzantine Istanbul is spread across the city: walls, cisterns, palaces and churches from Hagia Sophia out to the land walls, about 5 km to the west. Most carry no sign saying what they once were.
| What it is today | From Hagia Sophia | |
|---|---|---|
| Hagia Sophia | A mosque, with a ticketed visitor entrance to the gallery mosaics | Start here |
| The Hippodrome | An open square, the obelisk from Egypt and the Serpent Column still on its centre line | Under 1 km |
| Great Palace mosaics | A museum, closed since April 2023 for earthquake strengthening | Under 1 km |
| Şerefiye Cistern | Open every day, uncovered in 2010 beneath a municipal building | Under 1 km |
| Valens Aqueduct | Standing over the street, inside the UNESCO World Heritage site | About 2.5 km |
| Pantokrator | The Zeyrek Mosque, restored in 2019 | About 3 km |
| Pammakaristos | The Fethiye Mosque since 2022; its mosaic chapel is listed as closed for renovation | About 4.5 km |
| Chora | The Kariye Mosque since May 2024, ticketed for visitors, worship only on Fridays | About 5 km |
| Tekfur Palace | A museum at Edirnekapı, restored by the city in 2019 | By car |
| The land walls | Open to walk along at Edirnekapı, inside the UNESCO site | About 5 km |
| Yedikule Fortress | Open every day except Monday | About 6 km |
| Stoudios | A ruin under restoration, not yet open to visitors | By car |
Six Byzantine Cities in One
The Ceremonial Heart
Only 180 square metres of the Great Palace’s mosaic floor survive, from the fifth and sixth centuries. We trace the palace from the Hippodrome down to the Bucoleon sea walls while its museum is closed.
The Water City
Researchers attribute at least 211 cisterns to the Byzantine city, and Şerefiye’s 32 columns came to light only in 2010. We take you below ground at the Basilica Cistern and the ones open beside it.
The Land Walls
UNESCO gives Theodosius II’s land wall as 6,650 metres, with a second line of defence added in 447. We walk a stretch of the walls at Edirnekapı or Yedikule.
The Harbour Under Yenikapı
Rail works at Yenikapı uncovered the Theodosian Harbour and 37 Byzantine shipwrecks. Our guide Betül Başak spent two years as an archaeologist on the Marmaray digs.
Churches That Became Mosques
Chora has been a mosque again since May 2024, and Pantokrator since its 2019 restoration. We bring the guide who studied Christian iconography to read their walls with you.
Palaces at the Edge
Tekfur Palace at Edirnekapı reopened as a museum after the city restored it in 2019, near the remains of the Blachernae Palace. We pair it with Chora and the walls, on the same side of the city.
Closed, Changed or Ticketed
Since 2020, several Byzantine sites have closed, changed what they are or started charging visitors.
- The Great Palace Mosaic Museum has been closed since 10 April 2023 for earthquake strengthening.
- Until it reopens, we leave it off your plan.
- Chora opens for worship only on Fridays, and visitors from abroad pay for entry.
- We never plan Chora for a Friday.
- Hagia Sophia sends visitors from abroad to the gallery floor, through a ticketed entrance.
- The Byzantine mosaics are on the gallery, so that is where we take you.
- Pammakaristos’s mosaic chapel is listed as closed for renovation.
- We confirm it is open before it goes on your plan.
- Stoudios, older than Hagia Sophia, is still under restoration.
- We keep it off your plan until it opens to visitors.
- Yedikule Fortress closes on Mondays.
- We plan the southern end of the walls for another day.
Our Byzantine Specialists
Ask for any of them by name when you write, or see all our guides.
Betül Başak
Archaeologist
Licensed since 2011, with degrees in classical archaeology and art history, she dug on the Marmaray project for two years.
She guides in English, with intermediate Spanish.
Damla Arslan
Greek and Latin
She studied Greek and Latin, so an inscription on a wall is a text she can read with you.
She has excavated at Zeugma, the ancient city known for its Roman mosaics.
Ebru Gökteke
Iconography
Her MA in art history specialised in Christian iconography, so she reads a mosaic, a dome and a saint cycle with you.
Chora and its iconography are among her long-standing subjects.
Licensed guides, TÜRSAB member #7651Guiding Istanbul since 2011145 Google reviews rated 5.0560 TripAdvisor reviews rated 4.8How We Build Your Byzantine Day
What You Came For
Walls, water, mosaics or the harbour: tell us what you came for, and how long you have.
The Right Specialist
We match the guide to what you came for, and the plan we send names them.
Around the Closures
Prayer times, closing days and restorations set the order, long before you land.
A Car for the Far Side
The land walls sit about 5 km from Hagia Sophia, so a private vehicle can be part of the plan.
Before You Plan Byzantine Istanbul
What Byzantine Sites Can You Still See in Istanbul?
Istanbul keeps the Hippodrome, Hagia Sophia’s gallery mosaics, cisterns such as Şerefiye, the Valens Aqueduct, churches that are now mosques such as Chora and Pantokrator, Tekfur Palace and the land walls of Theodosius II.
Some are open streets, some take a ticket, and a few are closed for restoration.
Is Chora Church Open to Visitors?
Yes. Chora in Istanbul reopened as the Kariye Mosque on 6 May 2024, and visitors from abroad enter with a ticket. On Fridays it opens for worship only.
Is the Great Palace Mosaic Museum Open?
No. Istanbul’s Great Palace Mosaic Museum, in the Arasta Bazaar beside the Blue Mosque, closed temporarily on 10 April 2023 for earthquake strengthening and restoration. The Other Tour checks it again before every day we plan.
How Many Byzantine Cisterns Are There in Istanbul?
Researchers combining the two most recent studies attribute at least 211 cisterns to Byzantine Constantinople, under today’s Istanbul.
You can go down into a few, among them the Basilica Cistern and Şerefiye, whose 32 columns came to light in 2010.
How Long Are the Walls of Constantinople?
UNESCO gives the land wall of Theodosius II in Istanbul as 6,650 metres, with a second line of defence created in 447. Long stretches still stand and can be walked, at Edirnekapı and at Yedikule.
What Was Found at Yenikapı?
Rail works at Yenikapı in Istanbul uncovered Constantinople’s Theodosian Harbour and 37 Byzantine shipwrecks from the 5th to the 11th centuries.
The Istanbul Archaeological Museums began the dig in November 2004, and it also brought up tens of thousands of artefacts.
Is Stoudios Monastery Open?
Not yet. Stoudios in Istanbul, a basilica older than Hagia Sophia, is under restoration by the Directorate General of Foundations, which is working to open it to visitors.
The mosque in Üsküdar that opened in 2025 is a different building, the İmrahor Mosque.
Do You Need a Guide for Byzantine Istanbul?
Not for every site, but most of Byzantine Istanbul is unlabelled: walls by the road, columns in squares, churches under mosque names. A specialist guide from The Other Tour tells you which fragment is which, and plans the day around what is closed.
Choose Your Byzantine Day
Plan Your Byzantine Day
Your dates, who is coming and which Byzantium you came for. We reply within a day with a plan and the name of the guide we would send.
