NEW! EXCURSION “ISTANBUL OCULTO”

Immerse yourself in the day-to-day istanbul by visiting a typical neighborhood in the historical center of Istanbul! Imagine the laundry set to dry, lying between old wooden Ottoman houses, children chasing a ball between laughs and the daily life of a beautiful neighborhood humble but at the same time beautiful … these will be some of the scenes that you can contemplate in our tour In this original and unique private excursion that TOURQUIA has the pleasure to offer you, you will discover the places less visited by tourists who come to Istanbul.

We begin our tour in the Zeyrek Mosque, originally a church of the Byzantine period called Monastery-Church of the Pantocrator, built in the twelfth century. Next, we will have the opportunity to take some photos of the old Ottoman houses that populate the area.

Our next stop is the Gül Mosque (Rosa, in Turkish) that was originally a Byzantine church dedicated to Saint Theodosia. Then we will descend to the Golden Horn, to admire the old Bulgarian Church (Church of Sveti Stefan, Church of St. Stephen of the Bulgarians or Bulgarian iron church), built in the 19th century with iron plates.

We will continue to Balat, where the Jewish community lived for a long time. We will visit the Church of St. George that currently serves as the seat of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and serves as the residence of the Patriarch of Constantinople. Some sacred relics are exhibited in this place that could be saved and protected from the plundering suffered by the city during the Fourth Crusade and the subsequent capture of Constantinople, in 1204, by the Christian troops. Beautiful ancient icons, sarcophagi and the column of flagellation to which Jesus was allegedly bound and lashed can be observed in this Patriarchate.

Our next stop will be the famous Café de Pierre Loti, where we can enjoy a traditional Turkish coffee or an apple tea, admiring the incredible views over the Golden Horn. On the way back, we will travel along the city walls. city ​​and we will enter what was the old Constantinople, through what is now known as Yedikule, the site where the old Puerta Aurea of ​​the triple system of walls (Porta Aura) was located.

Next and along the way we will see a large number of small churches that last from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.