Do you want to visit our Historical City?
These are Five Hidden Corners Of Istanbul To Discover!
1- Zeyrek District
Zeyrek Mosque or the Monastery of the Pantokrator, is a large mosque in the Zeyrek district of Fatih in Istanbul, overlooking the Golden Horn. It is made up of two former Byzantine churches and a chapel joined together and represents the best example of Middle Byzantine architecture in Constantinople. After Hagia Sophia, it is the largest Byzantine religious edifice in Istanbul.
2- Fener Quarter
Fener is a quarter midway up the Golden Horn in the district of Fatih in Istanbul, Its name is a Turkish transliteration of the word “phanarion”, meaning lantern, streetlight, or lamppost and it was so-called because of a column topped with a lantern which stood here in the Byzantine period and was used as a street light or lighthouse. Fener was a traditional Greek neighborhood during the Ottoman era and its streets still contain many old stone houses and churches dating from Byzantine and Ottoman times.
Fener’s most notable attraction is the walled compound that encloses the Patriarchal church of St. George, home to the patriarch who is still titular heado f the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, one of the independent jurisdictions of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
3- Balat Quarter
Balat and Fener, are closely associated with the Golden Horn. Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror granted privileges to the Christian and Jewish communities living in the city to perform their rituals free of intervention. The Sephardic Jews who were expelled from Spain were accepted with open arms by the Ottomans and settled in the same part of the city. So Balat and Fener became a center for the religious minorities of İstanbul.
4- Rüstem Pasha Mosque
Rüstem Pasha Mosque was designed and built by Mimar Sinan, the imperial architect in 1563. It is situated off the main road along the Golden Horn, and to reach it you have to pass through the narrow side streets of the Spice Bazaar. It was commissioned by Rüstem Pasha, the Grand Vizier and son-in-law of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent. It is decorated with the most exquisite İznik tiles. Its interior is so rich that it can be considered a museum of tiles.
5- Church of Mary of The Mongols
The church is located in the neighborhood of Fener, Fatih district. It lies on Tevkii Cafer Mektebi Sokak, at the summit of a slope overlooking the Golden Horn, and near the imposing building of the Phanar Greek Orthodox College. The church lies behind a high wall and all the doors are usually closed; however, the church is actually open to the public but requires visitors to ring the doorbell near the entrance. Saint Mary of the Mongols or the Turkish name Kanlı Kilise (Bloody Church), is an Eastern Orthodox church in Istanbul. It is one of the only remaining Byzantine churches of Constantinople that has never been converted to a mosque.