The centre of the world in Byzantine times. The area is dominated by the massive Aya Sofya and its slightly smaller partner, Aya Ireni. Just down the hill is the idiosyncratic Küçük Aya Sofya, the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus. Apart from those, it’s all ruins. Half of Saray Burnu itself is a military zone and the rest is covered by Topkapı Palace, railways and building activity. Remains exist of an astonishing number of Byzantine churches but they take a vast amount of preparation and officialdom (or criminal trespass) to find.

1. Church of St Mary Chalcoprateia/Khalkopratia

2. Küçük Aya Sofya/Church of St Serge and St Bacchus

3. Aya Sofya/The Church of the Divine Wisdom

4. Aya Irini/ The Church of Hagia Eirene/The Church of the Divine Peace

5. Monastery of St Saviour Philanthropes

6. Church of St George of the Manganes

7. Church of St Mary Hodegetria

8. Goth’s Column Church, Gülhane Park (Orphanage of St Paul/St Demetrios/St Menas)

9. Martyrium of St Euphemia

10. Churches in the region of the Great Palace.

11. The Palace Basilica.

12. Chapels in the Bucoleon Palace

13. Churches in the Palace of Botaneiates

14. The Church at Cankurtaran

15. The cistern underneath Sarnıç Nargile Café

16. Kapι Agasι  Camii/ Mahmut Aga Camii

17. Ayazma underneath Sedir’s Carpet Shop/Kirkit Travel

18. The Church in Günaydın Carpark

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This is the south-central area of walled Constantinople. It is a region of quiet streets and little building activity. The absence (as yet) of urban renewal means that community structures are still intact. Nowhere is this more obvious than at Kocamustafapaşa Camii, the descendant of the ancient Church of St Andrew in Krisei. Apart from this building, the Byzantine monuments are fragmented and widely separated. A short distance outside the walls is the Balıklı Monastery with a sacred spring that made this a place of pilgrimage since before Roman times.

Monastery church of Gastria/Sancaktar Mescidi

Kocamustafapaşa Camii/Church of St Andrew in Krisei/Sümbül Camii

İsakapı Mescidisi, Ibrahim Paşa Medresesi

Yenikapı

The Shrine of Zoodochus Pege/Balıklı Kilise/The Ayazma of Pege/Balıklı Meryem Ana Rum Ortodoks Manastırı

The Hypogeum at Silivrikapı

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Samatya is the area inside the sea walls on the Marmara sea side. There are no intact Byzantine buildings here but a lot of interesting remains and links with the glories of Constantinople. Samatya probably has the highest density of churches anywhere in Istanbul. The buildings themselves are almost all from the 19^th century although many are built over the foundations of churches from Byzantine times. Samatya is the only part of Istanbul to retain its Greek name. Most of the churches are Greek but this area has a strong Armenian presence, the Patriarchate being at Kumkapı. The major Byzantine monuments are the fortress of Yedikule with its increasingly redundant Triumphal Gate, and what is left of the once-fabulous Monastery of St John of Studion.

St George of the Cypresses

Martyrium of Saints Karpos and Papylos

Monastery of St Mary Peribleptes/Armenian Church of St Kevork (George)/Sulu Manastir

Imrohor Camii/St John of Stoudion/Studius

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