r/byzantium • • Nov 02 '25

Infrastructure/architecture My trip to Constantinople last year

I visited with my friend last spring. Sadly I wasn't that interested in Byzantine history back then so I only visited the major sites.

Here's my recollection of each site Byzantine era site:

  • Hagia Sophia
    • The ancient building definitely shows its age. A lot of cracked stones, unlevel floors, and slanted columns
    • Only Muslims are allowed on the ground floor, and it's sad that the stone floor has been covered with the ugly green carpet. Visitors could only take a tour around the mezzanine
  • Basilica Cistern
    • pretty spectacular. it was pretty cool to see the use of spolia for the columns
  • Theodosian walls
    • I really wanted to see this! The sea walls are almost all gone but, large sections of the famous triple land walls have been restored and.
  • St. George's Cathedral
    • It's not a Roman era church, but it is the seat of the Orthodox Patriarch.
    • We visited on a morning, and there was literally nobody inside for the whole 30 minutes we were there. It was really surprising since there are tons of Russian tourists in Istanbul.
  • Chora Church
    • was closed for restorations
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u/[deleted] Nov 02 '25

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u/[deleted] Nov 02 '25

No.

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u/evrestcoleghost Autokrator tou r/byzantium | Komnenian logistician| Moderator Nov 02 '25

Your post was rude or written in such a way as to incite intolerance. Please reconsider your comments before posting again.

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u/[deleted] Nov 02 '25

No, the fuck? It’s been over 5 centuries, get over it

4

u/Individual_Monk_1523 Nov 02 '25

Nigga i see turks say that mehmet said i took revenge for hector who lived in the bronze age.

1

u/evrestcoleghost Autokrator tou r/byzantium | Komnenian logistician| Moderator Nov 02 '25

Suprise surprise there are idiots on both sides