Trace of Christianity - Full Day

A journey through this part of the world often has the quality of a pilgrimage, a both physical and spiritual search for the origins and realities of ... See more

A journey through this part of the world often has the quality of a pilgrimage, a both physical and spiritual search for the origins and realities of one’s faith. After Constantine the Great’s declaration of Christianity as the religion of the Roman Empire, the capital moved from Rome to Byzantium. With the conquest of Ottoman Empire in 1453, the seat of the Patriarchate remained in Istanbul and the city has since then been the capital for Orthodox Christianity. The church commands a loyalty of about 250 million faithful.

You will start the tour by visiting the Patriarchate of Fener by the Golden Horn which is the heart of Orthodox Christianity. Visit the Church of Panagia of Blachernae is the best known and most celebrated shrine of the Holy Virgin. Then we’ll see St. Savior in Chora, originally a Byzantine Monastery with fantastic frescoes and mosaics portraying scenes from the Bible. Next, visit the complex of Christ Pantocrator, one of the largest and best organized of the Byzantine period. See Zoodochos Pege at Balikli, dedicated to the Mother of God at Pege, holding a well-known miracle and the fountain of holy water believed to cure many diseases.

We’ll also visit St. Sergius & Bachus, and Hagia Sophia which for many centuries was the largest church of Christendom, dedicated to Divine Wisdom. Finally we reach Hagia Eirene, the patriarchal church and the Church of St. Mary Pammacaristos which housed the Patriarchate for some time after the conquest. See less