Browsing tag:
Byzantine churches
Of all the Byzantine churches in Istanbul, the Theotokos Kyriotissa was the last one I saw during my visit to the city in July 2025. I've been to Istanbul many times before, but it was only after I started My Forever Travel that I began to truly engage and study the city's Byzantine and Ottoman history in a more meaningful way.
Having served as an imperial city for nearly 1600 years, Istanbul has a lot ...
I am not very lucky with the Pammakaristos Monastery. I went to see this former Byzantine chuch in 2019, at the very start of my travels around Turkey in Istanbul. I remember the entire structure being covered in scaffolding. It seemed that they had just started major restoration works and I couldn't see anything at all.
I returned to Istanbul in June 2024. Naturally, the Pammakaristos Monastery was on ...
So, which one was the church for Ottoman sultans in Istanbul? Clearly, Ottoman sultans didn't need a church, they built and prayed in mosques. It is therefore remarkable that Hagia Eirene, located within the first courtyard of Topkapi Palace, never suffered the same fate as almost all other Byzantine churches after the fall of Constantinople in 1453. In other words, these former churches were converted into ...
It is almost impossible to talk about Byzantine churches in Istanbul. After the conquest of Constantinople 572 years ago, the Ottomans converted almost all Christian Orthodox temples into mosques. The only Byzantine church that still retains its original function is the Panagia Mouchliotissa Church in Fener. I went to see this church both in 2024 and 2025, but unfortunately it was closed. I'm not too ...
