Chora Church & Underground Cistern & Rustem Pasa Mosque & Spice Market

After your cruise docked to Istanbul port, on your meeting time, your guide will be waiting you in the arrival guest terminal with a sign that your booking name indicated. After he/she welcomes you and after getting on your luxury private van, your unforgettable day in Turkey stop starts.

In this tour, the sites where you are going to be guided are kindly indicated below ;
Chora Church ; The Chora Church is a former Byzantine church, later Ottoman mosque, and current museum in the Edirnekapi neighborhood of Istanbul. It gives you an impressive effect once you go to the interior part of the building to see the original Byzantine-era mosaics and frescoes unearthed.

The Chora church was dedicated to Jesus Christ and since it stood outside of the city walls which built by Constantine, the building was called as “Chora”, which means “in the country” or “outside of the city” in Greek but also the name must have carried symbolic meaning because the mosaics in the narthex describe Christ as the Land of the Living and Mary, the Mother of Jesus, as the Container of the Uncontainable.

Underground Cistern ; That is one of the most spectacular places to visit in Istanbul which was built by Justinian in the 6 C AD to be used as a reservoir for water storage. The citizens who settled in the vicinity were provided with their daily water requirements from the large round well-like holes opening from the ceiling structure. This cistern is an underground chamber of 138×64.6 meters and the large space is broken up by a forest of 336 marble columns, which are aesthetically supported by strong columns and arches.

Rustem Pasa Mosque, This is the mosque with a central dome and a single minaret that arises amidst the rows of shops and storehouses near the Spice Bazaar. It creates a beautiful sight in the busiest commercial center in the city, together with the Süleymaniye Mosque on the slope behind. The architect Sinan built the mosque in 1561 for the Grand Vizier Rüstem Pasa. Spiraling staircases go up to the structure that is set above a row of shops. The interesting courtyard is actually a small terrace covered by five small domes. The facade and the small, but attractive interior are decorated with the finest examples of Iznik tiles.

Spice Market; still in use as one of the world’s largest spice bazaars since 1665. It gains its Turkish name, Mısır Çarşısı (Egyptian Bazaar), from the fact that it once received income from taxes levied on Egypt. The English name hails from the days when the Bazaar specialized in the sale of herbs and spices, medicinal plants, and drugs. Nowadays it hosts 85 shops in the market.

After you finish your visits in your program, the same way you drive back to port of Istanbul. Ending our services as saying goodbye to our guests with unforgetable memories and with the wishes to welcome them back again…

• During your visits in the sites highly recommanded to wear comfortable shoes because there going to be cobblestone and slippery surfaces, inclines and sometimes steps.
• If you prefer another Language speaking guide please let us know awhile you make your reservation.
• Sultanahmet area is historical area. It is closed to traffic becasue of that mostly all attractions are in walking distance so at the tour a moderate amount of walking is involved
• Some historical places, museums are closed on spesific days could be replaced with some others such as.

• During the tours having a hat and putting your sunscreens on highly recommended to avoid the problems in the hot temperatures.
• Unless it is not indicated in your itinerary, The Treasury and Harem sections are not included in the programs and are due to extra entrance fees.
• According to your request, we can skip some of the sights from the program.
• According to the crowds on the busy days, your experienced tour guide could change the rotation of the places to visit in your program to organise a much easier day for your comfort.
• Local currency is Turkish Liras(TL) but around the places where you visit, generally they do accept euros and dollars.
• 0-6 ages of children are free of charge as long as you bring the copies of their passports to show the officials at the enterances of each site.
• If there is a mosque visit in your program, you should bring a scarf to wear before you enter.