Istanbul Ancient Monasteries Full-Day Tour with Lunch

We will see as many churches as we can see from outside. Our day starts with the visit of St. Saviour of Chora from outside. Built originally as a part of a monastery complex in the 4th century, transformed to a mosque at the beginning of 16th century, became a museum in 1945, and recently retransformed to a mosque again. We will continue with Tekfur Palace, a late 13th-century Byzantine palace. Next stop is the Church of St. Mary of Blachernae, an Eastern Orthodox church. We will see the Church of Saint Mary of the Mongols from 7th century. And the oldest surviving and most prestigious Greek Orthodox school in Istanbul, Phanar Greek Orthodox College. Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople is also on our itinerary. We will finish our tour with Monastery of the Pantocrator, the most typical example of architecture of the Byzantine middle period in Constantinople. And finally we will see the remains of the Church of St. Polyeuctus, from the 6th century.